


A Light in Your Eyes

by Candyfairey



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 15:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1862484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candyfairey/pseuds/Candyfairey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellethiel has always felt like an outcast. After her scientist father gives her superhero powers, she's inducted into the Avengers. While on the team she experiences first love and heartbreak. When she's taken from the home and friends she's grown to love by the God of Mischief, can she change his damaging ways and show Loki that he's worthy of forgiveness and love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Little Fun and a Visit from Fury

**Author's Note:**

> I waited a few weeks before I actually saw The Avengers in theaters. I have no idea why I waited so long because it’s fantastic! The morning after I saw the movie, I woke up with the plot for this fic forming in my head. I must have been dreaming about the movie. At first I pushed it aside because I’d never even considered writing a fan fiction and to be honest I didn’t think I could. But over the next few days the plot kept cropping up in my thoughts and all kinds of ideas were starting to form. I finally decided that I just had to write it. This is my first fan fiction, although I started a few more recently after this one. I do have to say that the updates will likely be slow in coming and I apologize in advance. As a college student and new to fan fiction I’m working on balancing everything. I hope you enjoy this first chapter and please review.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC.

Nineteen year old Bellethiel was going to have some fun with the ice cream truck that was always at the corner of her community college every Friday. Well more like with the girls from her English 1102 class that always got fat free fudge pops from said truck.  
It was a cold January day in Maine. The sky was overcast and there was the usual bite in the air. The kind that made your nose go numb if you were outside too long.   
The girls consisted of Ashley, Maddy, Clarissa and Jewel. They had tortured her all through middle school and up until the tenth grade. Bellethiel never understood why. She had never done anything or said anything about any of them. She kept to herself as much as possible, always having her nose buried in a book. She wasn’t competition either. She didn’t consider herself pretty. She had straight chestnut brown hair, brown eyes, and was near average height at five foot three. She had plain features as well, no striking cheekbones or anything like that. It wasn’t like guys were all over her either. Bellethiel had never had a boyfriend, she had been asked to prom by a guy from her senior history class but she had quickly turned him down. She didn’t do dances.  
In tenth grade Belle had had enough of the girls antics. They smacked her books from her hand when she was by her locker, said hurtful comments about her looks, clothes and even her mom, who had left her and her dad when she was six. They also spread some nasty rumors about her sexual life, all of which were untrue because she had no sexual life. Belle would never forget the day when she was changing after gym class and one of them had taken a picture of her with their cell phone in her sports bra and panties. It had been sent out to the whole school.   
So one day at lunch when Jewel decided to comment on Belle’s trademark combat boots for the umpteenth time Belle picked up Jewel’s diet coke and poured it all over her and her tight, very expensive, white lace dress. Jewel had screeched louder than a banshee was probably capable of and the entire third lunch period erupted into laughter. Belle had received high fives from random students in the hall the rest of the week. At first she was afraid Jewel and her Snob Mob would retaliate but it was exactly the opposite. They left her alone aside from sneers in the hallways.  
She was wearing her long sleeve forest green shirt, dark wash skinny jeans, her well-worn black combat boots, and her new black faux leather bomber jacket that she had gotten for Christmas. She wore a charcoal gray stocking cap and matching gloves to keep warm. Her only makeup was tinted moisturizer, two coats of black brown mascara and a strawberry lip balm. She only wore two pieces of jewelry. A pair of ¼ carat diamond earrings, and a small gold band on her left middle finger with her name engraved on the outside and the meaning of her name engraved on the inside.  
Her parents were both J.R.R. Tolkien fans and had decided to give her an elvish name. Bellethiel meant strong one and her dad called her Belle for short.  
As well as testing out her new skills, she would have some fun with the group of girls she dubbed the Snob Mob.  
She started walking towards the ice cream truck, being careful not to be noticed. She stopped behind a tree and peered out from behind it, waiting for the perfect moment.  
Jewel and the Snob Mob had all gotten their usual fat free fudge pops and were giggling when there was a sudden gust of wind.  
Everyone turned to see what the high pitched screeching was about. All of the girls had fudge pop smashed into the front of their expensive blouses and designer jackets.  
Belle took a moment to laugh with the others who had seen it before she quickly dashed away down the block. Not one person saw her do either. Belle cackled with laughter at the mischief she had just caused.  
After getting out her laugh she started her walk home. She put in her ear buds and was mumbling along to Pink’s latest song Blow Me One Last Kiss.  
As she passed by the local jewelry store, she was knocked onto her knees, landing on the cold, hard cement. Her ear buds falling out of her ears as she dropped her mp3 player.  
Before she could react she was jerked up by the collar of her jacket and something cold and hard was pressed to the back of her head.  
“Nobody move or she’s dead!” A gravelly voice yelled, coming from the man who held her.  
Belle didn’t dare to move. She heard an alarm going off from the store. She hadn’t heard it before because her music had been up so loud.  
The robber started moving to the left, still holding the gun against her head. Belle was breathing hard, trying not to have a panic attack, which she had been famous for having since eighth grade.  
“Drop your weapon!” Came a yell from Belle’s right. She saw a police officer from the corner of her eye and then another appeared on the left. There were howls of sirens coming from police cars coming their way.  
Belle felt the cold metal move from her head as the robber pointed his gun at the officer to her left. Belle took the moment to act. She moved from the robber’s arms quicker than smoke being sucked out of a room and she darted forward and snatched the gun, then kneed the robber in the groin all in one movement that took three seconds.  
The police officers stood dumbfounded and neither of them made a move at first. Instead they exchanged dumbfounded looks for a few seconds.  
“Aren’t you guys going to arrest him?” Belle asked, her hands balled into fists to hide her shaking.  
The policemen, shaking off their confusion, grabbed the robber who was rolling around on the ground, clutching his manhood and moaning in pain.  
“I’ll return this to Mr. Phillips.” Belle said, still slightly shaken, as she picked up the bag of jewelry the robber had dropped when she had kicked him.  
When Belle came back out onto the sidewalk after returning the jewelry to a very grateful Mr. Phillips she picked up her mp3 player. She saw a news camera crew and a reporter. To avoid being asked any questions from the reporter or the police she quickly darted down the next few blocks and headed for home.  
Belle arrived home fifteen minutes later.  
“Dad I’m home!” She yelled out to no answer. “Must be in his lab.” She mumbled to herself.  
She went into the kitchen and made two cups of hot chocolate. She went into the walk in pantry and stepped through the door at the back which led to an elevator. She pressed the down button and the elevator started to lower. When the elevator door opened she saw her father at his desk, eyes focused on his computer screen.  
“Hey dad.” Belle said.  
“Hey Belle.” Her father replied without looking away from the screen.  
“I brought you some hot chocolate. I’ll be up in my room doing homework if you need me.”  
“Thanks Belle.” Her dad said, looking away from the screen and taking the hot chocolate with an appreciative smile.  
Back in the kitchen she grabbed her own hot chocolate and headed to her room to start on her paper for her English 1102 class.  
Her walls were plain white and had been covered with posters over the years. Classic movie ones such as Casablanca, Gone With the Wind and Singin’ in the Rain. She had a laminated poster that had the entire William Shakespeare play Hamlet on it as well as posters of Van Gogh’s Twelve Sunflowers, Starry Night, and The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night. There was a tall wooden bookshelf opposite her bed that was overflowing with books. It contained classic such as Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby and all of Jane Austen’s novels. It also contained more recent books such as Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga.  
She tossed her bag onto her unmade bed and sat down at the small desk opposite it, next to her bookshelf. She set down her hot chocolate and opened up her laptop and turned it on. She pushed against the desk and lifted her feet from the ground, spinning around in her computer chair while her laptop came to life.  
An hour and a half later her mug was empty and her paper was finished so she went downstairs to make dinner.  
She got out thawed chicken breasts from the fridge and cut them up, then cooked them in a pan with some oil. She chopped up green, red, orange, and yellow bell peppers and cooked them in a separate pan with some olive oil. When the chicken was done she added a packet of fajita seasoning then added the cooked peppers and stirred it together. She laid out the shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole. She warmed corn tortillas in the microwave.  
A few minutes later she and her dad were sitting at the kitchen table eating fajitas.  
“So how did school go today?” her dad asked.  
“The same as usual,” she said as she poured milk from a jug into her glass.  
“And how are you doing with your powers?” he asked, eyeing her carefully.  
Belle worked to suppress a smile as she was reminded of her antics earlier that day.  
“Well I may have tried them out a little,” Belle told him truthfully, focusing on her fajita.  
“Belle, you know I don’t want you using them until we’re sure you have control over them.”  
“Oh I think I’ve definitely got the hang of them.”  
“Belle...,” her father said in a warning voice.  
“Okay okay. I won’t use them anymore,” she promised.  
After dinner her father went back to his lab and, after cleaning up, Belle went to her room.  
She picked up the current book she was reading, The Catcher in the Rye, and plopped down on her still unmade bed.  
Two hours later she finished the book and went downstairs to get an oatmeal crème pie and a glass of milk.  
With crème pie and milk in hand she joined her dad on the couch to watch the news, as was their ritual.  
Fifteen minutes later Belle wished she could dash off, but she knew her dad would notice.  
A lady who looked to be in her forties appeared on screen. She wore red lipstick. Her blonde hair was so stiff it hardly moved in the cold wind. She wore a string of pearls and a dark blue suit jacket over a white blouse.  
“Thirty-year old Henry Guile, robbed Phillip’s Jewelry Store this afternoon. But what baffled police was a young female that the robber had grabbed off the sidewalk. He had her held at gunpoint when she slipped from his grasp, disarmed him, and kneed him in the groin so fast the officers said that they barely even saw it. The Police arrested Henry and the young female returned the bag of stolen jewelry to the store owner. When the police went back to talk to her, she was gone. We have an interview with one of the police officers to share with you.”  
Belle’s father looked at her with a look of concern mixed with disapproval. She sank back into the couch cushions and bit down on her bottom lip.  
“It was incredible! She was like…like a ninja! I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s like she had superpowers!” The policeman who Belle recognized as the one who had been on her left said into the camera.  
“There you have it. Is there a new superhero in our midst? I’m Emily Shafer for Channel two news.”  
Belle’s father ran his hands down his face but before he could say anything Belle spoke up.  
“What was I supposed to do? The guy had a gun to my head!”  
Belle’s father pulled her into a hug. “I know. I’m just glad you’re okay. How did the guy even grab you?”  
“I was listening to music.”  
“Ah. Well I’m just glad you’re ok. I’m going to document this. You did just as the lady said?”  
“Yep.”  
“No complications?”  
“Nope.”  
When her father finished questioning her she hugged him goodnight and went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed.  
Thirty minutes later she was standing in front of her bookshelf trying to decide what to read. She decided on To Kill a Mockingbird. She turned off the overhead light and climbed into bed and turned on the lamp on her bedside table. She hadn’t read To Kill a Mockingbird since the tenth grade. She stayed up for two more hours reading, relishing the thought that tomorrow was Saturday and she didn’t have class.  
Belle was woken the next day by her dad shaking her shoulder to wake her.  
Belle groaned and looked at the clock on her nightstand. She groaned again when she saw it was 8:30. Usually she slept until eleven on the weekends.  
“There’s someone here who wants to speak with you.”  
“Who?” She asked groggily, turning onto her stomach and pressing her face into her pillow.  
“He says his name is Fury.


	2. Rory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I own nothing, except I came up with the OC of course. Just in case anyone is wondering Bellethiel is pronounced Behl-ehth-ee-ell. I’m also going to be distorting the timeline of The Avengers a bit. In this fic, they’ll have already been assembled and Loki isn’t working for the Chitauri just yet. Also am I the only one who just found out that there is a unisex Loki perfume called Mischief!? The bottle is even crooked! Isn’t that awesome!? I must get it for Christmas! Anyway thanks for your reviews so far. I’m very glad and happy to hear you’re enjoying it and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Introductions had been made and now Belle sat at the kitchen table eating a bowl of corn flakes with sliced strawberries and a sprinkle of sugar on top. Usually on Saturday she made pancakes but she had to make an exception today.  
She was still wearing her navy and red plaid pajama bottoms and white tank top that she had worn to bed the night before, as well as her bunny slippers.  
Nick Fury sat across from her. As un-phased as Belle always put off, Nick Fury sitting at the small, wooden kitchen table in front of her was a bit unnerving.  
“I saw the news report,” Fury stated firmly.  
“You don’t live around here. How could you have seen it?” Belle asked curiously.  
“I have a team that looks for unusual things, such as the news report,” he stated matter of fact.  
“You shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV,” she told him, before eating a spoonful of cereal.  
Belle’s comment caused her father to give her a wary look. He moved from where he was standing at the kitchen counter and set down a cup of coffee in front of her.  
“Bellethiel, I’m putting together a team. A team made up of gifted individuals like you. I’m sure you’ve heard of Tony Stark?”  
“Of course I have. Who hasn’t?”  
“And you know that Tony Stark is Iron Man?”  
“Yes.”  
“Mr. Fury?” her father interrupted, offering coffee.  
“No thank you,” Fury replied, rejecting the coffee.  
“You should take it. Ever had coffee brewed in a coffee press? Freshly ground? Better than from a coffee pot,” Belle said.  
Her statement caused Fury to look a bit irritated.  
“Belle,” her father said in a warning voice she knew well from whenever she got smart.  
“Just making conversation,” she said, looking down at her bowl and eating another spoonful of cereal.  
“We don’t need another Stark on the team,” Fury stated.  
Belle let out a laugh, which at Fury’s second irritated look she quickly stifled. She didn’t know why she had said what she did, must be nerves. Fury had just basically asked her to join a team of superheroes.  
“How did you come by these powers?” he asked Belle.  
Belle’s father joined them at the table with his own cup. “I gave them to her.”  
Fury simply nodded.  
“I would like to have some tests run, as well as some training to see what you can do.”  
“And Tony Stark is on this team of yours?”  
“Yes as well as Thor. Although I doubt you’ve heard of him.”  
“You mean the Norse god Thor? He’s real?” she asked in uncertainty.  
“Very real.”  
Belle chewed her last spoonful of cereal slowly, thinking.  
“No,” she replied after a small silence.  
“Belle,” her father started.  
“No. I won’t do it,” she pulled her cup of coffee towards her and spooned two teaspoons of sugar and half and half into it.  
“May I ask why?” Fury asked.  
Belle sipped her coffee, not answering.  
Her father answered for her. “She doesn’t want to leave me.”  
“Seeing as you’re the one who gave her these skills, I’m sure we could find a place for you at S.H.I.E.L.D.”  
“I’m content with my work here, thank you.” He turned to Belle, “But Belle, I think you should do this. With the right training and a team to work with, you could do a lot of good.”  
“What about you? You’ll get so caught up in your work that you’ll forget to eat. You might be a scientist but you certainly can’t cook. What about keeping the house clean and my classes?”  
“I can afford to hire someone to do those things for me.”  
“I can have you transferred to a school near S.H.I.E.L.D.’s base by this afternoon,” Fury cut in.  
“These tests you want to run?” Belle asked Fury warily.  
“We’re working on recruiting Dr. Banner as we speak. He’ll be in charge of running your tests, if we can convince him. He’s a tough one because of his…condition.”  
“Wait you mean The Hulk? You want him working with my daughter?” Belle’s father asked, concerned with the thought of someone with so much unpredictable strength working with his daughter. As a scientist he had done a lot of research about Dr. Banner’s work.  
“We can use someone with a mind like Dr. Banner at S.H.I.E.L.D. As far as we know he hasn’t had an incident in quite some time. He has it under control. But the tests I’m talking about are just for precaution. Not that I doubt your work Mr. Norse but sometimes these things don’t turn out like you would expect.”  
“No I completely understand. I’ve run many tests myself already. Everything seems to be fine.”  
“Like I said, they’re just a precaution. We have a trained spy who can help with some training. You’ll be part of a team, a very important team. We can provide you with a place to stay on base, and like I said you can still go to school. We won’t always need the team together, only when there’s a threat to our world. But we’re getting everyone together now to see how well you all will work together as a team.”  
“It won’t hurt to try Belle,” her dad said, trying to convince her. “You’ll be with people like yourself. They know what you’re going through and can help you adjust. It might even be like a kind of family.”  
“But you’re my family,” Belle said.  
“And as your family, as your father, I’m telling you that you’re going.”  
Belle entered her room and picked up the pair of jeans that she had worn the day before off of the floor and changed into them. She dressed in a gray long sleeve shirt and her black combat boots.  
She pulled a black rolling suitcase from the floor of her closet and laid it on her bed. Standing in front of her closet she pulled a bunch of her favorite shirts and decided that just in case she might need it, her black mini-skirt, and all of the other few dressy items of clothing that she owned. After her few pairs of shoes, her jeans, pajamas, and toiletries were packed she stood in front of her book shelf, contemplating which books she should take with her. She decided on only her absolute favorites that she re-read over and over. They consisted of Wuthering Heights, Hamlet, The Great Gatsby, one volume containing every Jane Austen novel and The Hobbit.  
“That should be enough,” she said out loud, wishing she could just take every book on the shelf with her.  
She went over to her sugar glider’s cage and picked him up, interrupting his chase of a cricket.  
“Well Rory, looks like we’ll be staying somewhere else for a little while.”  
He was named after a character from the only television show she watched. He was two years old and was very attached to Belle. She proceeded to clean his cage and pack up his supplies and food while he clutched onto on her shoulder, watching.  
Just as she was putting him in his tiny carrier there was a knock at the door.  
“Come in.”  
“Hey Belle, how’s it going?” her dad asked, coming in and inspecting her open suitcase.  
“Are these the only books you’re going to take?”  
“Just my favorites, I’m sure there’s a library in the area. I think I’ve got everything.” She felt for her ring that she only took off when she showered to be sure she was wearing it.  
“What about your school books?”  
“Oh right.”  
Belle grabbed her book bag and checked to see that everything she needed was in there. Then she went to her nightstand and grabbed her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and put it in her only purse, a light beige cross body bag.  
“Don’t forget your bunny slippers,” he said, picking them up off the floor and putting them in her suitcase. He zipped her suitcase for her and pulled it off the bed as she put on her bomber jacket.  
“Thanks dad.”  
“Fury’s waiting outside with a car. Apparently you’ll be traveling via helicopter,” he told her as they went down the stairs.  
“Seriously!?”  
Her dad let out a laugh at her excitement. “Seriously.”  
After her suitcase and book bag were in the trunk of the car she would be taking with Fury, her father pulled her into a hug.  
“I’m going to miss you.”  
“I’m going to miss you too. I’ll email you, because I know you won’t answer the phone.”  
Her dad laughed at that and kissed her on top of her head before letting her go.  
She sat in the back of the black SUV with Rory safely in his carrier on the floor. She waved out the window at her dad as they drove away.  
They arrived a few minutes later in an open grassy field where she saw a helicopter ready and waiting.  
She was glad she had put on her stocking cap and gloves as the wind from the helicopter blades made the biting early morning much colder.  
Belle was in awe the whole way to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s base. She had never even ridden in an airplane before and here she was in a helicopter. The view was spectacular, particularly the way the lakes shimmered in the bright morning sunlight.  
Belle’s stomach was filled with a mixture butterflies and anxiety. A part of her was glad that her father was making her do this. Another part was scared. Scared that the rest of the team wouldn’t like her or accept her. She was fearful that she might not be as capable, brave, or as strong as the others. She had been an outcast since middle school and she truly hoped that this wouldn’t be anything like that.  
It felt like her heart leapt into her throat as Fury pointed out the small dot that was the base.


	3. Temporary Home

When they landed at the base she insisted on handling her own luggage.  
Fury led her inside.  
After a tour of the base Fury led her to a hallway lined with doors, which all looked the same. They came to a stop at the third door on the left.  
“This is your room,” Fury said, flashing a plastic card in front of a small square scanner to the right of the door.  
She entered the room slowly and set all of her belongings down and he handed her the card to her room.  
Standing before her new room, she took in its size. It was on the small side, at least smaller than what she was used to. All four walls were white. There was a twin sized bed with a small bedside table and a white three drawer dresser. There was a small desk against the wall to her right complete with a wooden padded chair and a lamp.  
“The bathroom is just two doors down the hall on the left. You’ll have the rest of the day to unpack and get situated. Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to some of your knew team members. I already have someone working on transferring you to your new school. They’ll bring you your schedule.”  
At that Fury left Belle to unpack.  
An hour later she had unpacked. Her books were on the desk and her clothes were hung up in the closet and tucked away in the dresser. Rory’s cage was set up on the floor next to the desk.  
Rory was skittering about on the floor, exploring his new, temporary home. Belle laid out his food dish and poured some staple pellets into it for him, knowing he would be hungry after their journey. She made a mental note to get some apples, oranges and carrots, his favorites, as soon as she could.  
She took off her boots and plopped down on the crisp white sheets of the perfectly made bed with To Kill a Mockingbird.  
An hour later she was woken by a knock on the door. Belle jerked awake and quickly looked about the room, unsure of where she was for a moment.  
She scooped up Rory from where he was playing with a pen on the desk and went to the door.  
“Hello. I’m Agent Coulson. I have your schedule ready. You can come with me and we’ll go take a tour of the campus,” Agent Coulson said with a small smile.  
“Oh alright. Just let me get my shoes and jacket,” she said groggily, not fully woken up from her nap yet.  
“Sorry Rory but you’ll have to stay here,” she said, placing him in his cage after her boots and jacket were on.  
Rory made a little noise in reply, which Belle knew meant he wasn’t happy.  
“I’ll be back in a bit,” she promised.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They were walking across a courtyard and had one more class to find when Agent Coulson got a call.  
“Yes sir. Right away.”  
“Is everything okay?” she asked when he hung up.  
“Have you ever heard of Captain America?”  
Belle shook her head.  
“Well he’s what you might call the first superhero. In 1945 his plane crashed in the ocean, and they just found him.” Agent Coulson placed a hand on her back, quickly guiding her towards the parking lot.  
“What do you mean they just found him?”  
“Well they were looking for something.”  
“But if the plane crashed all those years ago isn’t he dead? Why are we rushing?” she asked as they got into the SUV they had taken there.  
“Because apparently he’s alive.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Back at base Belle followed closely behind Agent Coulson.  
They had just passed through a corridor when they were pushed to the side as, what Belle noted was a very handsome man, on a stretcher was moved to the infirmary.  
“Is that him?” Belle asked Agent Coulson.  
“Yes. Isn’t this great?” he asked a little enthusiastically.  
Belle’s eyebrows rose at that, then Coulson pulled some cards from his pocket and handed them to her.  
“They’re vintage,” he told her, a proud smile on his face.  
As she flipped through the cards she realized why he had sounded so enthusiastic just then. Agent Coulson was clearly a fan of this Captain America. No wonder he had been in such a hurry to get back to base.  
Just as she was handing the cards back to Agent Coulson, Fury came up to them.  
“Agent Coulson.”  
“Sir.”  
“Show Miss Norse here our files and footage on the Captain.”  
“Yes sir. Um how is the Captain Sir?”  
“He’s stable right now and being moved to the infirmary as we speak so he can be monitored. We don’t know when he’ll wake up.”  
Coulson nodded towards Fury. “Follow me,” he said to Belle, turning to continue down the hallway.  
Fifteen minutes later Belle sat in a small, dark room in a chair, enthralled by what she was learning.  
She let out a few laughs at some of the old footage of this Captain America, but as she read through some of the files Coulson had given her, she admired him for his bravery, courage and loyalty to his peers. She thought back to when she saw his unconscious form earlier and wondered if he was alright and when she would get to meet him. She decided that if he was still unconscious, he shouldn’t wake up alone. She stood from her chair and dashed to the infirmary to find him.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Belle found the Captain easily. She stood in front of the door, looking through the glass as a nurse checked on him.  
The nurse left the room, smiling at Belle.  
“Can I see him?” Belle asked the nurse.  
“Of course. He’s alright. We’re just waiting for him to wake up. Let us know if he does.” The nurse held the door open for Belle and smiled again as she left.  
Belle slowly walked over to where the Captain lay. He was completely still except for the rising and falling of his chest.  
Belle pulled a chair from a corner and placed it next to the Captain’s bed.  
“So, I’m Belle. I’m new here. I guess you are too though,” she said. “I’m talking to an unconscious guy from the 1940s,” she mumbled under her breath.  
She slouched down in the chair, with the same terrible posture that her grandmother used to scold her for. She pulled her schedule from her pocket and went over it again, committing the classes, buildings and room numbers and the teacher’s names to memory.  
After half an hour she decided to go get her schoolbooks and study.  
She dashed to her room and in half a minute was back in the chair next to the Captain’s bed.  
Over the next two hours she read the next chapter in her history textbook, practiced some math equations, and reviewed her chemistry notes.  
She packed up her bag and went to find some food when her stomach started growling.  
She paused at the door and looked back at the Captain. “Don’t wake up until I get back.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After Belle dropped her books off at her room, she went to find small kitchen she had been shown earlier.  
When she entered there was a man there, wearing a pair of black framed reading classes. He had tan skin and dark, slightly messy hair. He was bent over a folder, studying some papers that were in it intently.  
Not wanting to disturb him, she decided not to greet him.  
As she opened the fridge to inspect the contents, she heard him clear his throat. She turned around to face him.  
“And you are?” he asked, removing his glasses and placing them on the table.  
“I’m Bellethiel but you can call me Belle for short. You?”  
“Dr. Banner,” he stuck out his hand for her to shake. “So you’re the one I was called in to study.”  
“I guess I am. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his hand.  
“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve been looking over your father’s tests and data on you. I have to say, it’s pretty cool.”  
“Yeah it is. Are you hungry?”  
“Yes I am actually.”  
“Want to see me in action?”  
“Uh, alright,” he said with an amused look on his face.  
Belle darted around the kitchen and in half a minute she had placed a plate in front of Dr. Banner with a turkey, lettuce, and cheese sandwich, complete with mustard and mayonnaise, and a pickle on the side. All Dr. Banner saw, and just barely at that, was a blur moving around the kitchen.  
“Wow,” Dr. Banner said. “That’s pretty cool.”  
“Thanks. That’s the first time I’ve used my skills to make food.”  
“So you would say your skills were pretty easy to learn how to handle?” he asked before taking a bite from his sandwich.  
“Yeah, pretty easy, except I ran into and broke a lot of stuff at first.”  
Dr. Banner chuckled. “Well I tend to break a lot of stuff too.”  
“That’s right. You’re The Hulk.”  
“I am.”  
“Wow,” Belle breathed. “That’s pretty cool too.”  
“Not as cool as most people think. You’re lucky. Your skills are completely under your control. Mine, not so much.”  
“I know. Would you like something to drink?”   
Dr. Banner nodded, his mouth full.  
“I’ve seen some videos, done a little research. It must be hard,” she told him.  
“I manage. So what have you been up to since you arrived here?”  
“Well I just got in this morning,” she moved at a regular pace around the kitchen, placing a bottle of water from the fridge in front of Dr. Banner and then started to fix herself a sandwich. “Agent Coulson, very nice man by the way, got me all set up at my new school and took me there for a tour. Although it was cut short when he got a call saying they found Captain America. I was briefed on his history and for the past two hours I’ve been sitting in the room with him.”  
“Why have you been in the room with him?”  
“Well he’s been frozen for almost seventy years. I think he should have someone there when he wakes up.”  
“That’s nice of you. Just be prepared though, he may go into shock.”  
Belle pondered that for a moment. “I would want someone there if it were me.”  
“I guess I would say the same.”  
She smiled at him as she took a seat across from him. “So how long are you going to be here?”  
“Hopefully not very long. After I’ve gathered everything on you and make sure you’re…stable, I’m free to go.”  
“You don’t like it here?”  
“I have research, among other things to get back to.”  
“What about a lady?”  
“There is, but it’s difficult.”  
Belle nodded.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After Belle and Dr. Banner finished their sandwiches, they both parted ways. Dr. Banner went back to his lab and Belle went to grab her book and sit by Steve again.  
Belle read to Steve for two hours, almost finishing her book. She rose from the chair and stretched. She decided to go take a shower, not knowing that the Captain heard her the whole time she was reading to him for the past two hours.


	4. Hobbits Are Funny Little Creatures

The next morning Belle woke early so she could sit with the Captain again. She washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair. After she dressed she grabbed Rory from his usual sleeping spot on the top left corner of her pillow and headed to the kitchen.  
When she was almost to the kitchen she could smell coffee in the air and she took a big whiff, filling her lungs with the smell. When she entered she was greeted by Dr. Banner, who was frying an egg in a pan on the stove.  
“Good Morning Belle,” he greeted her over the light popping of the oil in the pan.  
“Morning,” she replied.  
She grabbed her blue ceramic Doctor Who coffee mug that she had brought from home from a cabinet.  
“How did you sleep?” Dr. Banner asked as she filled her mug with coffee.  
“As good as you can the first night in a new place,” she replied, putting her usual half and half and two spoons of sugar into her mug.  
“Would you like a fried egg?”  
“Yes please,” she said as she got out a plate and proceeded to slice up a granny smith apple into small chunks for Rory. He made a happy noise when she set it down on the floor, under the table so he wouldn’t be accidently stepped on.  
“You have a pet? A sugar glider?” Dr. Banner asked as he slid a plate with her fried egg on it in front of her. She was now seated at the table near where Rory was nibbling at his food on the floor. Dr. Banner slid a plate of bacon in-between them and then sat across from her with his own plate and cup of coffee.  
“Yep. His name is Rory, after a character from the television show Doctor Who” she explained, reaching for a slice of bacon.  
He nodded, although clearly not familiar with the show. “So what are you doing today?”  
“I’ll be keeping the Captain company again.”  
“What if it’s weeks before he wakes up? You have to start training soon and I still need to run my own tests on you. You can’t spend every minute with him just waiting for him to wake up.”  
“Wow you sound like my dad.”  
Dr. Banner chuckled. “I just don’t want you to think he may wake up anytime soon.”  
“What if he does?” she said, raising an eyebrow at him over her mug.  
“What happened to coffee from a press?”  
They both looked up in surprise as Fury walked in.  
“Coffee from a pot is fine,” Belle replied. “Would you like to join us?”  
“I’m here to let you know that you’ll both be meeting the rest of the team tonight and later today you’re to go with Dr. Banner for some tests.”  
“I’m not actually part of the team though,” Dr. Banner said.  
“You are for now. Be in the conference room at 7.” At that Fury turned and left.  
Dr. Banner and Belle looked at each other for a moment before they both burst into a fit of laughter.  
“Is he always so serious?”  
Dr. Banner nodded “As long as I’ve known him.”  
When they finished eating Belle offered to wash the dishes. After the dishes were washed and dried and Belle figured out where they all went, getting accustomed to the new kitchen, she left to go read to Steve.  
She went to her room first. She had finished reading her book the night before to Steve after her shower so she picked up The Hobbit from the stack on the desk and dashed to Steve’s room.  
While Belle was reading to Steve she was at the part where Bilbo and the dwarves had been captured by trolls due to Bilbo trying to pick one of the troll’s pockets. While she read how Gandalf was hiding and saying things to the trolls so they would think one of them said it, which started arguments among the trolls, she heard a laugh come from her left.  
She jerked her head to look at the Captain but his face looked the same as it had been. She continued to read about Gandalf messing with the trolls, although paying very close attention to the Captain. She glanced up at him just as a laugh escaped his lips. She closed the book and stood up.  
“Steve?” she said softly.  
Steve made a soft chuckling noise and his lips curled up in a smile.  
“Steve?” she said again, placing a hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened and they were glancing everywhere. He sat up quickly, pulling on the tubes and wires that he was hooked up to.  
“Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! Everything’s alright. You’re fine,” she told him, her voice level and soothing so as to help him calm down.  
Steve surprised her by grabbing her upper arms and pulling her to him. “Where am I? What happened? Where’s Peggy?” he asked frantically.  
“Calm down. I’ll answer any questions you have if I can. But first can you let me go. You’re hurting me.”  
Steve let go of her and she watched as an ashamed look came to his face. They were both silent for a moment.  
“Where am I?” he asked looking around the room.  
“You’re at S.H.I.E.L.D’s base. You crashed into the ocean and have been frozen all this time, until yesterday to be exact. As for Peggy, I don’t know.”  
Steve looked at her for a while before finally speaking. “What year is it?”  
“2012.”  
Steve’s eyes widened before he ripped the wires and tubes from him. He jumped up from the bed, caught off balance momentarily. He flung open the door and Belle ran after him as he ran down the hallway. A nurse and doctor that were having a conversation in the hallway were alarmed when they saw him. They began following them and calling out to Steve. Steve ignored them, still in a slight state of shock and Belle ignored them, too busy worrying about Steve. She was careful not to step up her speed but to stay behind him at a distance.  
The nurse and doctor gave up halfway but Belle followed him all the way outside. She watched him as he ran into the street, disrupting traffic. He looked around taking everything in, his chest heaving at the sight of the huge screens with their ads for Broadway musicals, TV shows and Calvin Klein underwear. He took in the mass of cars and people in the street, ignoring the honks of angry drivers.  
After a few minutes he turned to look at Belle, still standing in the street. He looked like a deer in headlights.  
“Come back inside,” she said walking up to him. “Fury will explain everything.”  
He didn’t say anything. He just nodded and followed her back inside.  
After four vials of blood, and Belle almost passing out from nausea of seeing said blood, Belle was free to go. Just as Dr. Banner was taping a cotton ball in the crook of her right elbow Agent Coulson walked in.  
“Agent Coulson,” Dr. Banner said, acknowledging him.  
“Dr. Banner,” Agent Coulson said, nodding then looking at Belle. “You’re to come with me.”  
“I should have the results by this afternoon.” Dr. Banner said.  
Belle nodded and hopped down off the table, although she regretted it instantly when her vision blurred and Dr. Banner reached out to steady her.  
“You should probably get some sugar in your system,” he told her. “There’s a bag of chocolate chip cookies in one of the cabinets.”  
Belle nodded and headed towards Agent Coulson.  
They stopped by the kitchen where Belle found the cookies. She took two, wrapping them in a napkin.  
As Belle walked beside Agent Coulson she swallowed the last bite of her cookies. “Where are we going?”  
“You’re to be fitted for a suit.”  
“I get a suit!” she exclaimed noting that she was feeling much better.  
“They’re pretty much standard for superheroes.”  
“I’m not a superhero.”  
“I suppose not yet. But as for the suit, you’ll train in it. It will be made of a special material that will keep the suit at normal body temperature, no matter how cold or hot you get. It will move with you like you’re not even wearing anything. It’s not indestructible though. It can be cut and torn and it’s not bulletproof. You’ll have input on how you want it to look as well.”  
“Cool,” Belle said as they came to a stop at a door and Agent Coulson motioned for her to enter.  
“You’re not coming in?”  
“I just had to make sure you got here.”  
Belle smiled. “Okay. Thanks for showing me the way.”  
Phil nodded and went to turn.  
“Wait. What’s your first name?”  
“Phil,” he answered.”  
“Alright Phil. Thanks again,” she said, smiling.  
Phil nodded and turned, heading back the way they came as Belle went into the room.  
There were several people there who immediately got to work when she entered. They took very precise measurements and an older lady approached her, holding a sketchpad.  
“How would you like your suit to look?” the lady asked over her thick framed glasses.  
“Oh I’m not sure. Fitted maybe, definitely black.”  
“No color?” the lady asked.  
Belle glanced at her sketchpad and was impressed by how fast the lady was. She was already on the top part of the suit and it definitely looked fitted.  
“Um, maybe a green stripe going down the sides of the pants? Or gold?”  
“Which would you prefer?” the lady asked.  
Belle thought for a moment. Green was probably different and it was her favorite color but gold shouted superhero. But she wasn’t really a superhero, not yet anyway.  
“Surprise me?” Belle said.  
The lady gave her a warm smile and nodded.  
“How about a mask?”  
“Definitely not.”  
The lady raised her eyebrows for a moment at Belle’s quick answer before going back to her drawing.


	5. Butterflies

Belle sat in the kitchen at the table while Rory munched on some staple pellets. Steve had been talking with Fury and Dr. Banner for the past hour. She tried to concentrate on her book but she felt like she was just reading the same paragraph over and over. She was worried about the Captain, although she knew he would be fine. It would probably take him a bit to adjust to his new life and Fury would no doubt want him to be part of the team that he was putting together. Just as she was reading the same paragraph for the umpteenth time Dr. Banner walked in. He grabbing an orange from a bowl of assorted fruits off the counter and took a seat across from Belle.  
“Sooo…” Dr. Banner said, peeling the orange.  
“So?” Belle said, placing her bookmark in her book.  
“He just needs some time to adjust. Fury’s getting an apartment set up for him right now and Steve isn’t really for the whole team thing, like myself.”  
“Why not?”  
“It’s just hard for him. Last time it was 1945 and he was crashing into the ocean and then he wakes up in 2012 and Fury expects him to jump at being on a team just because he’s Captain America,” he said, eating an orange slice.  
Belle nodded. “He’ll be alright.”  
Rory jumped into her lap, then onto the table and scurried over to sniff Dr. Banner’s left hand which held an orange slice.  
“Hello there,” he said, chuckling. He offered the slice to Rory, who took it with a happy little noise and skittered up his arm, sitting on his shoulder as if he’d done it a thousand times.  
Belle laughed. “Well offer him food and he’ll be your best friend.”  
Fury entered the kitchen then, followed by a beautiful woman with curly red hair. She was dressed in a skintight black suit and boots.  
“Bellethiel, meet Natasha Romanov.”  
Dr. Banner and Belle rose from their seats to greet her.  
“It’s nice to meet you,” Belle said, shaking Natasha’s hand.  
“It’s nice to meet you too and good to see you again Dr. Banner.”  
“You’ve met?” Belle asked.  
“She…persuaded me into coming here.”  
“Bellethiel,” Fury said. “Natasha will be your trainer. She’ll help you learn how to hone in on and handle your powers for your benefit. You’re to suit up and start training immediately.”  
Belle hadn’t expected to start training so soon or that her suit would be ready in such a short time.  
Fury left the three of them to themselves.  
“So are you ready to start?” Natasha asked Belle.  
“I guess so.” She turned to Dr. Banner “Will you watch Rory for me?”  
“Sure.”  
“Thanks,” she said then turned to Natasha. “Lead the way.”  
Belle stood in front of the mirror, awestruck. The suit fit her perfectly. It was similar to Natasha’s except there was a half inch wide emerald green stripe going down both the inside and outside of the pants legs and the same thing on her arms and sides. She looked like she had been poured into the suit and she couldn’t believe what it did to her assets. Assets she didn’t even know could look like that. She was given a sturdy pair of black combat boots. The tops of the boots came a foot above her ankles. Right now they were a bit hard, but she just had to break them in.  
“Well? What do you think?” Natasha asked, entering the room.  
“It’s awesome! What’s that,” she said, looking at the black cloth in Natasha’s hand.  
Natasha walked towards Belle. “Face the mirror.”  
When Belle was facing the mirror Natasha put straps onto her back where the suit had been made so they could be attached.  
“What’s that for?” Belle asked.  
Belle followed her into a big training room. There was a high tech obstacle course in the room and an area where the floor was covered in blue mats. Belle followed Natasha over to a rectangular black case on a bench. Natasha bent down and opened the case. In it were two ninja swords. Each had an emerald green tassel hanging from the end of the black leather handle.  
Belle gasped. “Those are for me?”  
“Turn around,” Natasha told her and Belle did as she was told.  
Natasha slipped the two swords into the straps on Belle’s back so they were crisscrossed. Belle noticed they were much lighter than she thought they would be.  
“I have to use these?”  
“If you want. Fury wants to see how you’ll do with them first and hopefully you won’t ever have to use them.”  
“What do you use?”  
“I use a gun sometimes and I have some tricks up my sleeve. I was trained to use my body as a weapon. But I do know how to handle many different weapons, so I can help you learn how to utilize these with your abilities.”  
“Are you going to teach me how to use my body as a weapon?”  
“Of course.”  
An hour into training, Belle was surprisingly cool. She thought she would be dripping in sweat but her suit was doing a pretty good job of keeping her cool. Natasha had explained to her that the swords had been specially engineered for Belle. They were swift and despite their light weight could cause a lot of damage and the blade was as precise as a razors edge. It could shave the hairs off a man’s face and not leave a single cut.  
“Hold your swords up higher. Remember a sword is an extension of yourself. It’s not a separate entity. You command where it moves. You’re in control.”  
Belle moved towards Natasha with the left sword, but it was quickly blocked. Natasha wanted Belle to just tap her, but Belle was having trouble even doing that. Natasha lunged forward with her own sword and Belle blocked it. She lunged forward almost got Natasha on the shoulder. Belle stepped back in a huff. Despite Belle’s speed, Natasha was trained and definitely knew what she was doing.  
An hour later, Belle was in the kitchen with Natasha. Belle was making grilled ham and cheese sandwiches when Steve walked in. He was wearing jeans and a white v neck t-shirt under a blue plaid button up shirt. He looked like a school boy, lost on his first day.  
Natasha got up from her seat on the table and went to introduce herself, sticking out her hand. “I’m Natasha Romanov. It’s nice to meet you.”  
“Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you too ma’am.”  
Belle stepped forward as Natasha took her seat again.  
Belle stuck her hand out as well. “Um, we haven’t officially met yet. I’m Bellethiel Norse, but you can call me Belle.”  
“It’s nice to meet you too,” he said, shaking her hand. “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you.”  
“Sure. I’m making lunch if you’d like to join us.” She smiled at Steve kindly.  
“Could I talk to you in private? It will only take a moment.”  
Belle looked at Natasha, who tipped her head to the right, indicating the hallway. “I’ll take over for you,” she said, getting up from her seat.  
Belle followed Steve out to the hallway, wondering what he couldn’t say in front of Natasha.  
Steve stopped halfway down the hall and turned to face Belle. He shoved his hands in his pockets and Belle noticed he had an apologetic look on his face. She absentmindedly played with the ring on her middle finger, twisting it back and forth, waiting for Steve to start.  
“I’m sorry about my reaction when I woke up. I didn’t mean to handle you like that. Did I leave bruises?”  
Belle felt a pang in her chest at how sorry Steve looked. “It’s alright. I don’t doubt I would have reacted the same way and no you didn’t leave bruises.” That last part was a lie. In fact the bruises on her arms from the day before were very purple and they hurt to the touch but she decided Steve didn’t really need to know that.  
Steve looked a little relieved. “That was a terrible way for me to treat you. I’d like to make it up to you.”  
“Oh it’s alright. You don’t have to make anything up to me. It’s fine. I promise,” she said with a reassuring smile.  
“I would feel a whole lot better if you would let me make it up to you. I just got back from walking the streets for a bit and there’s an old diner I used to go to that’s still here. Let me take you there. My treat of course.” He smiled brightly and it made Belle’s stomach flutter.  
She decided that she would very much like to get to know the guy that she had been reading to. “All right,” she said with a smile.  
Steve smiled even brighter, causing the butterflies in Belle’s stomach to go up a notch. “Tomorrow?”  
“Tomorrow it is. But for now, would you like to join Natasha and me for lunch?”  
“Thank you but I already ate and Dr. Banner wants to run a few more tests to be sure everything’s okay.”  
Belle nodded. “Tomorrow then.”  
Steve smiled, before heading towards Dr. Banner’s lab.


	6. Remarkable People

At 6:50 Belle put down her book and pulled on her shoes. She picked up Rory from where he was playing with a bouncy rubber ball on the floor and placed him on her shoulder. She was nervous about meeting the rest of the team, although she wasn’t quite sure why. Dr. Banner, Natasha, and Steve were all nice and welcoming. “No reason to be nervous,” she told herself.  
She walked at a normal pace all the way to the door of the conference room. She placed her hand on the handle, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes, let out her breath and turned the handle.  
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Dr. Banner, Natasha and Steve were already there along with a man with piercing frosty blue eyes sitting next to Natasha. There was a blonde man with long hair suited up, a hammer on the table in front of him. Belle knew immediately who he was. Thor. She stood stunned for a moment as she took the sight of the god in. She had been briefed on the others by Coulson and knew about Thor’s part in what happened in Mexico with his brother Loki but it was still weird to know that the gods she grew up reading about were very, very real.  
“Bellethiel,” Fury said from the head of the table “allow me to introduce you to Agent Clint Barton and Thor. Clint and Thor, Bellethiel Norse.”  
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said to them both.  
Clint nodded, his eyebrow slightly raised at the creature perched on her shoulder.  
“It is nice to meet you as well my lady,” Thor said. “Are you aware you have a small rodent on your shoulder? Shall I get rid of it for you?” he started to rise from his chair.  
“NO!” Belle put her hands up defensively in front of her. “He’s my pet. He’s a sugar glider and his name is Rory.”  
“Your last name is Norse. That is funny,” Thor said with a huge grin as he adjusted in his seat.  
“Because you come from Norse mythology?” Belle asked, not being able to help smiling back at the god as she took a seat across from Steve.  
Thor let out a laugh. “And what do you know about Norse mythology?”  
“Apparently it isn’t myth at all.”  
Thor let out another booming chuckle.  
“Where’s Tony Stark?” Belle asked, noticing he wasn’t there. She knew he was supposed to be because otherwise she wouldn’t have been briefed on him.  
“Late,” Natasha said, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest. “Which doesn’t surprise me at all.”  
“Wait. Stark?” Steve asked, leaning forward and looking at Fury.  
“He is who you think he is,” Fury told him.  
Steve sat back in his chair and a thoughtful look came to his face.  
Ten minutes later the door opened and a handsome dark haired man walked in.  
“Sorry I’m late. Pepper and I were just celebrating the finishing of Stark tower.” Belle noted that he didn’t really seem sorry at all.  
“It’s inconsiderate for you to keep others waiting. Is our time not as important as yours?” Steve said, eyebrows raised.  
Tony looked at Steve with indifference. “This is the guy?” he said pointing at Steve and looking to Fury.  
“What guy?” Steve asked.  
“You obviously recognize my last name,” Tony said, taking the empty seat next to Belle. “I mean you’re the guy my father helped to become what you are. The guy my dad obsessed over. I just don’t see the big deal.”  
Rory skittered down Belle’s arm and headed towards Tony.  
“What is that?” Tony asked just as Rory bit his hand.  
“Ow!” Tony exclaimed, pulling back his hand.  
Everyone else couldn’t help but laugh, except Fury who just smirked.  
Rory skittered over to Steve and ran up his arm as if coming to his defense.  
“You’re father isn’t solely responsible. It was Dr. Erskine’s serum. And Steve chose to become what he is, who he is. You can have all the power in the world but it’s what you choose to do with it and how you let it influence you that counts,” Belle cut in, not liking Tony’s attitude.  
Tony turned his chair and stared at Belle, his brows knitting together for a moment. He stuck out his hand and she took it hesitantly. “You look familiar? Have we met?”  
Belle shook her head.  
“Huh.” Tony said to himself before swiveling his chair back so he faced the table again.  
Fury stood up. “You’re all here to be part of a team, you don’t have to be friends but you better know how to get along. You’re all adults so there’s no need to act like children.” He looked at everyone individually before continuing. “Now all of you have valuable assets that make you different from the average person. I want you all to get to know each other and train with each other over the next few months. When I have decided that you can work together as a team you are free to go your separate ways but if I ever need you to come together again, I hope I can count on you all. There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could. Now I’m leaving you all to get acquainted. I want you to have a training session together tomorrow.”  
Belle and Steve glanced at each other at the same time, both thinking about their date tomorrow.  
“Tomorrow? I don’t mean to complain or anything but I have four classes tomorrow,” Belle said.  
“Fury didn’t say anything about you being in school,” Tony said. “What are you going for?”  
“Biology. I really want to focus mainly on genetics.”  
“Well at least we know she’s smart,” Tony said as if Belle wasn’t in the room.  
Belle gave him her glare that said if she really wanted to hit him, she most definitely would and it would definitely hurt. She knew about Stark’s reputation but he wasn’t like this all the time was he? Maybe he was just guarded around new people or just plain arrogant. Belle hoped it was the former. She really wanted everyone to get along and the sooner they got along perhaps the sooner their training together could be over and the sooner she could be back home.  
“So what time should we all meet for training?” Steve asked.  
“Belle when does your last class get out?” Natasha asked.  
“3:25.”  
“Alright everyone be in the training room, suited up, at 4:30.” Natasha said. “I’ll see you all then.” She rose from the table, Clint following behind, and they left.  
“Well if you all don’t mind I’ll be getting back to my celebrating. It was nice meeting you Belle. You’re sure we haven’t met before?” Tony asked.  
She nodded.  
“And you too,” he said shaking Thor’s hand. “Sorry we didn’t get the chance to chat.”  
“I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities for that,” Thor said.  
He turned to Dr. Banner. “It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”  
“Uh, thanks.”  
Is there any way you would let me look at your test results for Belle?”  
“I don’t see why not,” Dr. Banner answered, shaking Tony’s hand.  
“Great. I’ll shoot you an email,” Tony said, now walking towards the door.  
After that Thor and Dr. Banner left to go eat and Belle and Steve were alone.  
“So I’ll see you after training tomorrow? For our date?” Belle asked.  
Steve nodded, a small smile on his face. “I’m looking forward to it Miss.”  
At about 4:00 pm the next day Belle made her way to the kitchen. Dr. Banner was there, sharing his bowl of strawberries with Rory. She placed her tumbler that she filled with coffee that morning in the sink. She grabbed a package of pop-tarts from the cabinet and placed two in the toaster. A minute later she sat down across from Dr. Banner.  
“Thanks for looking after Rory for me Dr. Banner,” she said.  
“You know you can call me Bruce right?”  
“Thanks Bruce,” she said taking a bite of her strawberry pop-tart.  
“It was no problem. He mostly sat on my shoulder while I worked. He’s good company. Although I did have to keep getting him out of my cabinets. He’s quite the curious fellow.” Bruce chuckled.  
They both looked up as Steve entered the kitchen.  
“I thought Fury set you up with an apartment?” Bruce asked Steve.  
Steve sat down next to Belle. “He did. I just didn’t want to be late for training. May I?” he asked Belle, motioning to her other, untouched pop-tart.  
“Sure,” she said, sliding it and the napkin it was on towards him.  
“Thank you,” he said before he took a huge bite.  
“Why aren’t you staying here?” Belle asked him.  
He chewed his big bite of pop-tart and swallowed before speaking. “Fury thought it would be best for me to have a place of my own, that it would help me acclimate better.  
Belle nodded, getting up to get a glass of milk for her and Steve.  
At 4:30 everyone was following Agent Coulson down a long, windowless hallway.  
“Hey Phil. How’s it going?” Belle asked, walking up beside him.  
“Why does everyone keep calling you that?” Tony said.  
Natasha rolled her eyes. “It’s his name Stark. Give it a rest.”  
Phil ignored Tony and answered Belle. “It’s going just fine thank you. I trust you’re adjusting well?”  
“I guess so.”  
“How were your classes today?”  
“They were good. The professors seem alright. I was actually able to get a front row seat in every class,” she said brightly.  
Dr. Banner chuckled from behind her at her remark.  
“Oh you’re one of those,” Tony said. He grunted as Natasha elbowed him hard in the ribs.  
“So the genius Tony Stark didn’t sit on the front row in his classes?” Belle said.  
“As shocking as it may sound,” he said coming up on Belle’s other side, “I preferred the back row.”  
Belle looked thoughtful for a moment.  
“So where exactly are we going?” Tony asked.  
“To an underground state of the art training facility,” Coulson answered.  
After they arrived everyone suited up except for Thor, Natasha and Clint who already were. Tony wouldn’t be going today.  
Belle walked over to Bruce.  
“So I guess you’re just going to be observing everyone?”  
“It’s really not a good idea for me to ‘suit up’. I haven’t been the Hulk in almost three years.”  
“Whoa,” Belle said, impressed.  
Tony had been listening nearby and wandered over. “How exactly have you managed that? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?”  
Bruce just glanced at Tony and chuckled, shaking his head.  
Three hours later Belle was exhausted but she kept pushing. The training facility was throwing everything at them. Belle felt it was a lot like dodge ball from high school gym class, which she had been awful at. Everyone took turns on their own on a course designed just for them while the others observed. Coulson explained that by watching each other on their course it would help them learn what each other was capable of and how they could work together. Because of this Belle’s course was just as fast as she was. She was dodging things, blocking and slicing things with her swords. She thought she was doing okay for her first time on the course but it seemed like every five minutes she was knocked off her feet. She was just about to block something with her right sword when she was tossed into the air by something underneath her feet. She lost her grip on both swords as she flew back twenty feet and hit the wall with a loud thud. She groaned, sitting up slowly and rubbed her head. When she looked up Steve was next to her.  
“Are you alright? You hit that wall pretty hard.”  
“I’m fine. I may be a little sore later though.”  
Steve held out his hand and Belle took it, smiling up at him. “Thanks,” she said. He helped her up, keeping his hand around hers for a moment before they walked over to the others.  
“Are you alright?” Bruce asked his face full of concern.  
“I’m fine but I think I’ve had enough for today.”  
Thor patted her on the back, a little too hard, and laughed. “It’s alright young one. You will get the hang of it.”  
“At least someone thinks so,” she mumbled under her breath, not realizing that Tony, who stood near her, heard.  
She took a seat between Steve and Bruce and gratefully took the water bottle Natasha held out for her. They watched Natasha, then Steve take their turns, as they were the last two to go. Belle watched in awe as they each ran their course just as she had. She hoped that she would be as good as them one day. She paid particular attention to Steve. She blushed when she realized she had been staring at his arm muscles as he used his shield. You wouldn’t think he had been frozen for seventy years. He didn’t miss a beat on the course.  
When they were through they all headed back up the hallway Coulson had led them down. When they were all going their separate ways Tony came up to Belle.  
“Could I speak to you for a moment?” he asked her.  
“Sure.”  
“I heard you in there. You don’t think you can do this, but you can. You’ve got some skills for someone new to all of this. And you’re smart. I could tell you were trying to anticipate moves, like a chess game, and more than half of the time you guessed right. With more practice you can take on any bad guy you please. I’m sure of it.” He said with a sure smile. He patted her on the shoulder before turning to leave.  
Belle was surprised by Tony’s words and that he cared enough to pull her aside and talk to her. She was right, he wasn’t an arrogant guy and he didn’t always have an attitude. “Thank you!” She yelled as he walked down the hallway.  
Steve came up to her. “What was that about?”  
“Oh, just some words of encouragement from our favorite man in the iron suit. He’s not bad after all.”  
Steve didn’t look so convinced. “I’m going to head to my apartment to shower and get ready. I’ll be back to pick you up soon,” he said with a smile that filled Belle’s stomach with butterflies.


	7. First Date and Milkshakes

As Belle stood in front of the closet, wrapped in a towel, butterflies continued their flight in her stomach. She decided on her favorite pair of dark wash skinny jeans, a burgundy v-neck sweater and black flats. She did her usual make-up and left her hair down.  
“Okay Rory. It’s just a date. My first date ever. No big deal,” she said, feeding him some staple pellets.  
“Oh who am I kidding!” She flopped backwards onto the bed and let out a sigh. “It’s Captain America! He’s so…handsome and he’s way better at this superhero stuff than I’ll ever be.”  
Rory let out a squeak as he scrambled up her bed and curled into her neck. She laughed, removing him as she sat up. She placed him in his cage and grabbed her bomber jacket and purse and headed down the hallway to meet Steve.  
“Hey,” she said as she saw him sitting at the kitchen table across from Bruce.  
“Hey,” Steve said, smiling. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, rising from his chair.  
“Yep,” she answered nervously, taking in Steve’s outfit.  
He wore a pair of khakis and a brown leather jacket with a light blue button up shirt that was tucked into his pants. Belle could see the collar of his white undershirt peeking out at his collarbone. He wore a brown belt that matched his jacket and shoes.  
“You look nice,” Belle commented, smiling inwardly at the blush that came to his cheeks from her compliment.  
“Thank you. So do you,” he responded with a smile.  
He picked a bouquet of flowers up off of the table and handed them to her. It was a bouquet of light green carnations, pink peonies, daisies and baby’s breath.  
“Wow flowers on the first date. Thank you. They’re beautiful,” Belle said.  
“Any self-respecting man will bring a girl flowers on the first date,” Steve stated.  
“I’ll put these in a vase and then we’ll go.”  
Bruce and Steve watched as she zoomed around the kitchen. In less than five seconds a clear glass vase half full of water was on the middle of the table, filled with the fragrant bouquet.  
“Have fun you two,” Bruce called as they exited the kitchen.  
She walked alongside Steve until they were outside and Steve stopped at a motorcycle. He handed her a black helmet and she took it hesitantly. She had never ridden a motorcycle before and the thought of it actually frightened her. Steve looked at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. He took the helmet back from her and gently placed it on her head.  
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised as he brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face. She felt those pesky butterflies again when he accidentally brushed his fingers across her cheek.  
She absentmindedly bit her bottom lip and held the edge of her jacket sleeves between her palm and her fingers, something she tended to do when she was nervous.  
“Alright I’m putting my trust in you Captain. Don’t let me down.”  
Steve laughed as he turned and swung his leg over the bike. She did the same, not able to see the smile that spread across his face when she reached forward and wrapped her arms around his middle, leaning against him. She took a deep breath when he started the engine and she noticed that he smelled like Old Spice and peppermint.  
Steve came to a stop outside of a small diner. The diner was warm compared to the weather outside. The air was filled with all kinds of smells: vanilla, burgers, grease, and Pine Sol. There were a few other couples there chatting and laughing amongst themselves and Belle smiled as she noticed an elderly couple sharing a vanilla milkshake and a plate of fries. Steve led her to a booth against the wall that was next to the elderly couple. After waiting for a few minutes and Belle looking over her menu a waitress who looked to be in her forties came over.  
“Can I get you something to drink?” the waitress whose nametag said Angie on it asked.  
Steve nodded towards Belle, “Ladies first.”  
“Um I’ll have a black and white shake and the signature burger with fries.”  
“I’ll have the same,” Steve said when Angie looked at him.  
“Sure thing,” Angie said with a smile, taking their menus.  
“So it’s been a while since you’ve been on a date huh,” Belle said.  
Steve laughed. “Definitely, and yourself?”  
Belle looked down at her lap for a second. “I’ve never actually been on a date.”  
Steve looked genuinely surprised before adding “Well I haven’t had a whole lot of experience with dating either. So why biology? Why genetics?”  
“Science was always my best subject in school, probably because I found it the most interesting. But I really fell in love with biology and I love the genetics part of it especially.”  
“What do you want to do after you get your degree?”  
“Well you’ve probably never heard of a disease called Progeria have you?”  
Steve shook his head just as the waitress headed towards their table with their shakes.  
“Your burgers and fries will be out shortly,” Angie said sweetly.  
Belle ate the cherry off the top of her shake before taking a sip. “Mmmm this is a really good shake. Anyway I’d never heard of Progeria either until I saw a special on TV about it, about this little girl that has it. It’s extremely rare. Children that have it have signs of aging, like hair loss, wrinkled skin, they’re skinny and they’re smaller than an average child at the same age. They have a very specific appearance and they’re prone to having strokes. And most children with it don’t get to live as long as you or I. They live into their teens or early twenties. One in eight million babies get it and because of that not a lot of people know about it and there’s not a whole lot of research focused on it. So I’d really like to research to help find a cure for it.”  
They both said thank you when Angie brought out their plates of food.  
“Wow that’s fantastic. I mean the disease isn’t fantastic but that you’re so passionate about it,” Steve said.  
Belle let out a chuckle before taking a bite of her burger. “I know what you meant.”  
“What about you? If you hadn’t become Captain America what would you have done?” Belle asked.  
“Honestly I never really thought about anything else except joining the military. I just wanted to do something for my country.”  
They continued eating and chatting until all of their food was gone, Steve helping himself to Belle’s fries after he cleared his own plate. Their conversation was marked by a lot of laughs.  
~O.o~  
As they stood just inside the doors of the part of the base that was made to be like a home, where Belle was staying, the silence became a little awkward. Part of Belle eagerly hoped he would kiss her goodnight but the other part was terrified by the thought. She had never been kissed before and she wasn’t sure that she actually wanted to kiss on the first date.  
“I had a nice time,” Steve said.  
“Me too, bike ride and all.”  
Steve laughed. “I’d like to take you out again. If you want of course.”  
“Sure. I’d love that.”  
Steve beamed. “Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at training.”  
Belle nodded. “See you then.” She stood there looking everywhere other than at Steve.  
Steve decided it was now or never and leaned in, placing a quick but gentle kiss on Belle’s cheek.  
“Goodnight,” he said softly, smiling at how red her cheeks had become.  
“Goodnight,” Belle said, beaming.  
When Steve left she dashed to the kitchen and got the flowers he gave her off the table and took them to her room. Once there she sat them on the nightstand and let Rory out of his cage. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, that night falling asleep with a smile on her face.


	8. Superhero Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist: These are the songs I listened to and imagined them dancing to while writing the end of this chapter. What? Dancing? Read on to see! It was a lot of fun to write!  
> The 1975-The City  
> Sing, Sing, Sing-Benny Goodman  
> Bonnie McKee-American Girl  
> Cher Lloyd-Swagger Jagger  
> Cher Lloyd-With Ur Love  
> Coco O. of Quadron-Where the Wind Blows (The Great Gatsby soundtrack)  
> The Rolling Stones-Start Me Up

Belle’s alarm went off at 7 the next morning.  
As she stretched a smile soon came to her face as the date with Steve was the first thing to come to mind.  
She splashed her face with cold water, brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her hair and pulled on a pair of jeans and a grey V-neck t-shirt.  
She was quiet as she left her room since Rory was still asleep on the bed.  
As she entered the kitchen she saw Bruce sitting in his usual spot at the kitchen table.  
He was sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.  
She looked surprised as he pushed her mug filled with coffee and a plate with an egg sandwich on it towards her.  
Before she could ask Bruce said “I was passing by your room and heard your alarm go off.”  
“Thanks,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. It was fixed just like she liked it.  
Bruce raised an eyebrow when she had disappeared for a second and was back with a knife and a jar of mayonnaise.  
“Really? You’re going to ruin a perfectly good egg sandwich with mayonnaise?” he said playfully as he watched her spread some of the mayonnaise on one slice of the bread.  
“Mmhmm,” she replied taking a bite of her sandwich.  
~O.o~  
That afternoon everyone looked up as Belle dashed into the training room.  
Her was pulled into a messy high bun, and she was just finishing pulling the zipper up on her suit.  
“Someone as fast as you shouldn’t be ten minutes late,” Coulson stated.  
“Sorry. I had to meet last minute with some classmates for a group project.”  
Coulson nodded. “As long as you’re staying on top of your schoolwork.”  
“Of course,” Belle replied with a smile.  
“Well now that you’re here, you’re going first and you should know Fury had your course changed overnight for you.”  
“Changed?”  
“It’s a little more attuned to you. It will be more challenging.”  
It’s plenty challenging already she thought to herself. But she sucked it up and dashed to the starting point where she steeled herself, ready and determined to do her best. She knew she couldn’t begin to count herself as part of a team until she could fend for herself first.  
~O.o~  
A few hours later Belle stood in the shower, letting the hot water ease her aching muscles.  
She stood there inspecting the bruises on her body from the afternoons training. She frowned when she noticed some of them looked like old bruises, days old instead of fresh.  
When she was finished showering and had dried off she gasped.  
The bruises were gone!  
She turned in the mirror, inspecting herself. Every single one was gone!  
She threw on her pjs and ran to find Bruce.  
She found him quickly. He was in his lab, his face scrunched up a bit in concentration.  
She knocked and he turned around and motioned for her to come in.  
“What’s up Belle?”  
“Well my bruises from today’s training…” She said frantically.  
“They’re gone.” He stated.  
“Yeah they were there when I first got into the shower but when I was drying off there wasn’t even a sign they had been there. Wait, you don’t sound so surprised.”  
“I was wondering when that would happen.”  
“What? You knew this would happen? So I’ve developed superfast superhero healing?”  
“Yep, almost exactly like Steve’s actually.”  
Belle thought for a moment as she leaned against a counter.  
“Cool,” she finally said before adding, “You’ll let my dad know?”  
“Of course.”  
“All right well I’ve got studying to do. Thanks Bruce.”  
“No problem.”  
~O.o~  
She was sitting at her desk, working on some chemistry problems when there was a knock on her door.  
“Come in!”  
She looked up to see who it was as the door opened. She smiled when she saw it was Steve.  
“Hey,” she said, standing up to greet him.  
“Hey,” he said back.  
Steve stood there awkwardly for a moment before stepping closer to her and pulling her into a hug.  
Belle wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes breathing in his scent. They let go of each other and Steve sat down in her chair and she took a seat on the edge of her bed.  
“What’s up?”  
Steve scratched the back of his head and chuckled. “I’m still getting used to sayings like that.”  
Belle laughed.  
“Actually I was wondering if you want to go on another date? This Friday?”  
“Sure!” Belle said, immediately blushing at her own enthusiasm.  
“Alright I’ll be here at seven?”  
“Sounds good.”  
“I’ll let you get back to studying alright?”  
“I’ll walk you out,” Belle said standing up.  
As they walked down the hallway Steve slipped his fingers around Belle’s. They both glanced at each other and smiled.  
~O.o~  
The following Friday Belle was walking down the hall to meet Steve.  
She had to go shopping the night before because Steve said she needed to wear something for dancing.  
Belle was incredibly nervous. She had never been much of a dancer, except for in her own bedroom, and she had a feeling that wasn’t the kind of dancing Steve had in mind.  
She wore a blue pleated skirt that came to a few inches below her knees, a white satin shirt with short puffed sleeves, and beige heels. She felt a bit awkward in the skirt and heels but she also found it refreshing to wear them as well. Her hair was curled and she twisted and pinned back a bit of hair on each side of her face to keep it out of the way.  
She was walking down the hall she thought she could hear music. It sounded like some kind of jazz, something from the forties.  
She stopped in her tracks, realizing what exactly Steve was planning.  
She dashed into the room where the music was coming from. As she opened the door she saw Steve standing in an almost completely bare room. The floor was of a shiny wood and there was an ipod sitting in an ipod dock where the music was coming from. Steve was wearing black trousers, a white button up shirt, a black bow tie and black dress shoes.  
She smiled at the sight as she walked up to him.  
“How long have you been planning this?”  
“A few days, ever since the other day you said you loved how they used to dance back in my day.”  
Belle laughed. “Sorry if I made you sound old.”  
Steve chuckled, “Not at all. Are you ready to dance?”  
“How did you figure out how to use an ipod? The other day you still didn’t know how to turn on your cell phone,” she said lighthearted.  
“Tony showed me. I hope you don’t mind I kind of borrowed yours and had Tony put this song on it.”  
Belle realized that it was indeed hers and laughed again.  
“No I don’t mind. This is really sweet of you.”  
Steve smiled and restarted the song before sticking out his hand. “Shall we?”  
“We shall,” Belle said, taking his hand.  
They were dancing to Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman and having a fantastic time at that. They were dancing to it for the fifth time now that Belle was mastering the moves Steve had shown her. After the fourth time Belle had kicked off her shoes and they were both perspiring a little and laughing themselves hoarse.  
After the song ended Belle stood back and took a deep breath.  
“I’ll get us some water and then I’m going to teach you how to dance, sort of.”  
Belle was back fifteen seconds later with two bottles of water. After they drank and rested a bit Belle walked over to her ipod and selected a song.  
American Girl by Bonnie McKee began to play as Belle walked towards Steve.  
“Now let me show you some of my moves.”  
Steve watched as she made a peace sign with both of her hands and brought them across her eyes.  
He laughed and mimicked her move. Next she showed him the lawnmower, the sprinkler, and the robot.  
He raised his eyebrows at them but mimicked her moves, both of them laughing hysterically.  
They were just moving around the room with each other, making up moves and laughing, so caught up neither of them realized they had been dancing for three hours now.


	9. Mortal Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> Joey Ramone-What A Wonderful World  
> Survivor-Eye of the Tiger  
> David Bowie-Space Oddity  
> One Direction-Midnight Memories  
> The 1975-Settle Down  
> Yacht-Psychic City

Two weeks had passed and Belle was slowly improving. They all trained on their specific courses four nights a week.  
Natasha had private lessons with Belle three times a week, helping her with her hand to hand combat and weapons skills.  
This week Natasha was teaching her about guns, specifically handguns.  
“Now when you’re out there you’ll be issued two guns similar to these to keep on your person but you need to save them. If you can stick to your swords or hand-to-hand then that’s what you need to do. These are your last resort. Got it?”  
Belle nodded. “Got it.”  
They were in the shooting range at base, which was conveniently located next to the training room.  
“Ok remember watch that recoil, hold it steady, tight, like your life depends on it. In some possible situations, that just may be the case. Okay now shoot.”  
Belle was standing like Natasha had instructed, her feet apart, the same width as her shoulder. She aimed for the bullseye and pulled the trigger.  
“That was terrible,” Natasha said. “Okay now this next shot I want you to take a deep breath, let half of it out, hold the rest in and then take your shot.”  
Belle nodded and took aim. She took a deep breath, her finger on the trigger. She let out what she felt was half of her breath then squeezed the trigger. After the shot she let out the rest of her breath.  
“Much better,” Natasha said, eyeing her shot, which was just a few inches from the bullseye.  
“How do you do that if you’re fighting someone?”  
“With enough practice you’ll get the hang of it and you’ll be able to hit that bullseye. Now take aim again and here,” Natasha stepped closer to Belle. “You see how you keep hitting to the left of the target?”  
Belle nodded.  
“Aim the gun more to the right this time. Again.”  
Belle took aim again, did everything Natasha had shown her so far and after she took the shot, she hit the paper target just grazing the outer edge of the bullseye.  
“Again,” Natasha said.  
~O.o~  
Natasha had Belle at the shooting range for two more hours and by the time Belle was taking a shower and her arms ached. But she was proud of her progress. After her shower she dressed in grey sweatpants and purple long-sleeve Henley. She left Rory skittering around her room happily playing with a small rubber bouncy ball and made her way into the kitchen where she whipped up a pan of brownies, from a box mix.  
Belle was pulling the brownies out of the oven when Thor walked into the kitchen.  
“Ahh what is that glorious smell?” He asked, sniffing the air.  
Belle laughed, “Brownies.”  
“May I have one?”  
“Sure but after they’ve cooled.”  
Thor nodded but was clearly unhappy at having to wait.  
“So Thor what are you up to tonight? Everyone else is out?”  
“I thought I would come and see what you were doing. We have not had much time to become acquainted with one another.”  
“Yeah you’re right.” Belle folded her arms across her chest and bit on her bottom lip in thought.  
“Do you know how to play cards?”  
“I am afraid you will have to teach me.”  
“Okay I’ll teach you while the brownies cool,” she answered, smiling. “I’ll be right back.”  
Thor watched with amusement as Belle dashed away and in ten seconds was back with a small box in her hands.  
“Thor?” Belle said when she noticed he wasn’t in the kitchen and the pan of brownies had disappeared.  
“In here Bellethiel.”  
Belle went into the living room to see that Thor had taken the blanket from the couch and spread it out in the middle of the floor, the pan of brownies sitting on top. She set the cards down and dashed to the kitchen. When she came back she had a knife to cut the brownies with, napkins and two glasses of milk. She passed Thor his glass and set the knife and napkins down before sitting down. She picked up the box and took out the cards, shuffling them. She dealed them out, each of them having half the deck. Before starting she cut two brownie squares out of the pan and handed him one.  
She watched as he shoved the entire square into his mouth and closed his eyes. She bit into her own brownie, suppressing a giggle at this face. After he swallowed he took a big gulp of his milk and smiled at her.  
“These are delicious! I would like another please.”  
Belle laughed and pushed the pan towards him. “Help yourself.”  
Thor did just that and listened as Belle explained the game to them.  
“Okay so in order to win the game you need to get all of the cards. You can’t look at your cards either, keep them face down. So you can go first. Pull a card off the top of your deck and lay it face up in-between us. If you get a number card then I go and so on until one of us gets a face card.  
“A face card?” Thor asked, around a mouthful of brownie.  
Belle looked through her deck and pulled out the right cards to show him, holding them up as she said each one. “Yes a queen, king, jack or ace, although there isn’t a face on the ace.”  
Thor nodded and laid down a jack.  
“Ha! Now what?” Thor asked excitedly.  
Belle laughed. “Now I go, but I only have one chance to lay down a face card since you laid down a jack. If I do get a face card, then you go. If I don’t then you get the cards we’ve laid down so far. Now if I lay down a queen then you get two chances to get a face card. If I lay down a king you three chances and an ace you get four. Now here’s where the fun part really comes in. If either of us lays down the same card in a row or make a sandwich, like a four then a two then a four then whoever slaps the cards gets the ones in the pile.”  
After Belle explained the rest of the rules, Thor nodded and Belle lay down three number cards.  
“Ha! These are mine are they not?”  
“Yup. Now you go,” she said as she cut herself and Thor more brownies.  
Next Thor laid down a seven of hearts, Belle a four of hearts, Thor an eight of diamonds, Belle a two of hearts and Thor, finally a queen.  
Belle followed by laying down two and before Thor could barely register her movements she slapped the cards.  
“These are mine,” she said, grinning.  
“I will get you next time,” Thor said, grinning as he shoved his whole brownie in his mouth.  
Belle went next, laying down a six of clubs, a nine of hearts, then an ace of hearts.  
Thor laid down an ace of clubs and they both slapped the cards.  
“Ow!” Belle yelled, pulling her hand back to cradle it against her chest.  
“I am sorry,” Thor said, his eyes shining with remorse.  
“It’s okay,” she said, rubbing her hand.” Just hold back on some of that Asgardian strength of yours. But since my hand was there first I get the cards.”  
Thor laughed. “You are so small. It’s easy to forget how fast you are.”  
They finished the game a little while later, which Belle won.  
“That was fun! We must play another round!”  
Belle laughed and shuffled the cards. Belle found out, unsurprisingly, that Thor is extremely competitive and he won their second game. By that time almost the entire 9”x13” pan of brownies was gone, mostly thanks to Thor.  
“What should we do now?” Belle asked.  
“What else do you do for fun, besides reading?” Thor said that last bit with a chuckle. Whenever he saw Belle, if they weren’t training, she was engrossed in a book.  
Belle punched his arm, knowing it wouldn’t hurt. She turned around when she heard someone enter the room.  
“Steve!” she exclaimed, jumping up and wrapping her arms around him and standing on her toes to kiss him.  
“What are you guys up to?” he asked, his arm around Belle’s waist, as Thor stood up and nodded in acknowledgement to Steve.  
“We just played two rounds of Egyptian Rat Screw.”  
“Don’t you have a bit of an advantage playing that?” Steve asked Belle.  
“You would think, but Thor won the second round.”  
“Well what are you guys up to now?”  
“We were just trying to figure that out actually,” Belle said.  
“What about that game you were telling me about? Twister?” Steve asked, while moving to sit on the couch. He pulled Belle down next to him. Belle smiled, knowing that Steve wasn’t the type of guy to pull a girl into his lap because it wasn’t exactly proper to him. She loved that about him, how proper he always was with her.  
“You guys playing Twister? Now that is something I would pay to see.”  
Everyone looked up as Tony entered the room. Belle got up from the couch and gave him a hug. They had grown closer since his encouraging words to her. He kept on saying positive things to her after every training session and even gave her some pointers. He had essentially taking her under his wing a bit and she really appreciated it.  
“What are you doing here?” Belle asked him as he bent down and got the last brownie from the pan.  
“Well Pepper’s out of town so I thought I would drop by.”  
“This Twister game? Do you play with cards as well?” Thor asked.  
“No but I’ll go get it. I found the game in a storage closet,” Belle said.  
When she returned with the game Tony was just finishing explaining the game to Thor and Tony.  
“So who’s spinning?” she asked as she took out the spinner board and held it up.  
“I will,” Tony said. “I want to see this.” He took the spinner from Belle’s hand.  
She took the mat from the box and shook it out before spreading it flat on the floor.  
Belle stood at one end of the mat and Steve stood at the other while Thor was to the left of Belle, in-between her and Steve. Tony sat down on the edge of the couch.  
“All right,” Tony said, spinning the plastic pointer on the board. “Left hand green.”  
“Ha easy!” Thor said.  
Belle glanced at Tony. They both had smirks on their faces.  
Tony continued calling out commands for the game. “Right foot red. Left hand yellow. Right hand yellow. Left foot blue.”  
“Okay, maybe not so easy,” Thor said, as he was crisscrossed with Belle and Steve. His hand was on the farthest yellow from him and he was actually straining to reach it.  
Tony laughed then called out the next move.  
“Left hand blue.”  
“Thank goodness,” Thor said, causing everyone else to chuckle.  
They continued to play until Belle reached with her right hand for a green and fell. She took Steve down with her, collapsing on top of him.  
Thor’s laughter boomed throughout the room. “Does this mean I win?”  
“Yes,” Tony said, leaning back onto the couch bursting with laughter as Steve and Belle untangled themselves from each other.  
“Yes!” Thor said, standing up and grinning. “I like these mortal games! Perhaps Loki will enjoy them as well.”  
Belle and Steve stopped while they were folding up the mat and Tony rose from the couch.  
“Loki?” all three of them asked in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s it for this chapter! I hope it wasn’t boring but I just imagined Thor playing Twister and it made me giggle. And yes! Loki!!!???


	10. Little Loki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> : Writing this chapter made me a bit sad. I watched Thor: The Dark World for the third time the other night and then writing how Thor refers to Loki as his brother and still holding out hope for him in this chapter just really got to me since their relationship was SO tense (is that the right word?) and almost nonexistent in The Dark World.  Ok enough mopey-ness.  
> Playlist: These are the songs I imagined playing at Tony’s party. Tony’s party? read on! Enjoy!  
> John Newman-Love Me Again  
> ZZ Top-Sharp Dressed Man  
> Young the Giant-My Body  
> The Rolling Stones-Start Me Up  
> Deadmau5-Strobe (club edit) and Ghosts N Stuff (feat. Rob Swire)  
> ACDC-Rock N Roll Train and Back in Black  
> Alex Clare-Too Close  
> Bass Nectar-Calling From Above  
> Screaming Trees-Look At You

The next morning as Belle lay in bed she wondered why Loki was coming to stay.  
Belle knew all about what happened in New Mexico and what happened with Thor on the Bifrost and how it was destroyed and Thor failed to save his brother. She knew he felt terrible about that, and despite what Loki had done, Thor loved his brother and still held out hope that there was good in him.  
Perhaps he was trying to turn over a new leaf. Maybe he even wanted to join the Avengers. If so he would definitely be an asset.  
She thought back to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It was one of her favorite books. Besides Lizzy and Mr. Darcy her favorite character was the eldest sister, Jane. Jane saw the good in others and would defend someone if something negative was said about them. Belle felt she was like Jane in that way.  
She realized even though she hadn’t met Loki yet she knew deep down he wasn’t as bad he’d been made out to be. Now she couldn’t wait to meet him and prove herself right.  
She couldn’t believe that Fury was allowing Loki to stay at the base, of course Thor assured him that he would be watching Loki like a hawk and Loki had promised not to cause any trouble.  
Belle figured he was just glad to be back from wherever it was that he had been. She wondered what he had gone through after what happened on the Bifrost.  
She lay in bed musing over these thoughts until she heard a knock on the door.  
When she opened the door she saw Thor. He laughed at her bedhead before placing his hand on top of her head and mussing it up even more.  
“Yes Thor?” she asked, slapping his hand away.  
“I came to see if you would do something for me.”  
“Of course,” she said, smiling.  
“I would like you to play a joke on my brother,” he said stepping into the room.  
She shut the door and crossed her arms.  
“You want me to play a joke on the God of Mischief?” she said, an eyebrow raised.  
“You are the perfect person to do it.”  
“What do you have in mind?”  
“Just surprise him.”  
“Alright, I’ll try my best. When will he be here?”  
“He’s just arrived.”  
Thor stood looking around her room while Belle went to the bathroom and changed into a pair of jeans and an emerald green scoopneck tee. She brushed her teeth and splashed her face with water before leaving the bathroom. Back in her room she put on her sneakers.  
“Ok. Let’s get Loki,” she said, smiling.  
They walked into the living room where they had hung out the night before to see that the others were already there.  
Steve smiled at Belle and she returned the smile, going to his side.  
“I see you have met everyone,” Thor addressed Loki.” Except Bellethiel.”  
“You can call me Belle,” she said from behind Loki.  
Loki actually jumped, slightly startled. This caused Thor to fill the room with laughter along with the others.  
Loki turned around to see Belle holding out her hand for him to shake.  
He took it gingerly and placed a kiss on top of her hand, keeping eye contact with her the entire time.  
“The pleasure is mine. I must say you gave me a bit of a fright. Not many, if any, can do that. I am impressed,” he said and Belle noted his voice was smooth as silk and her hand seemed to tingle with electricity where his lips had touched it.  
Belle smiled. She wanted to tell the others that he didn’t seem as bad as what she’d heard but decided against it. She was struck by the light that shone in his eyes and there was definitely something mischievous in them as well as something else she couldn’t quite place.  
She finally withdrew her hand from his after what felt like ages.  
“Well seeing as Loki is being a good guy at the moment, ooph!” Tony stopped mid-speech and looked down to see that Belle had elbowed him hard in the ribs, earning a smirk from Loki. “Anyways,” he resumed, rubbing his side “how about a party at my place tonight?”  
Belle didn’t like how Tony had just basically said that Loki was only temporarily being a good guy. If his words had bothered Loki, he didn’t show it.  
Later that evening after a shower Belle was prepping for Tony’s party. She and Natasha had gone shopping earlier to get Belle a proper party outfit. Natasha had finally convinced Belle to get the black liquid leggings, a fitted metallic gold blazer and black flats that had small gold spikes all over.  
Belle wore the same green shirt she put on in the morning with her new outfit, under her blazer.  
She decided to curl her hair and when she was done she pinned a piece from the left of her face to the side with a bobby pin to keep it off her face.  
Her makeup was minimal, well as minimal as she could get it because Natasha had barged in, sat her down, and took over. She wore tinted moisturizer and a metallic gold eye shadow to match her blazer. Then Natasha had lined along her bottom waterline with an emerald green liner. She finished with black brown mascara and a slightly shimmery gold lip gloss that tasted like citrus that Belle bought that day.  
“Perfect,” Natasha said, turning Belle around to look in the mirror.  
“Wow thanks,” Belle said, looking at herself.  
“You like it?”  
“Yeah it looks great.”  
There was a knock at the door.  
“Oh well that’s probably Steve. I need to finish getting ready anyway,” Natasha said.  
Belle didn’t think Natasha needed to finish getting ready. She looked amazing in her bright red dress, black pumps, curled hair, cat eye eyeliner and classic red lips.  
“Okay see you, thanks,” she said as Natasha left and Steve came in.  
“Wow you look fantastic,” he said, smiling.  
“So do you.”  
He wore black dress pants and a light blue button up dress shirt. His hair was perfect as always and she could smell the Old Spice and peppermint.  
“Are you ready?” he asked.  
“Almost,” she said, pulling on her bomber jacket.  
She led him out and turned off her light and closed her door.  
Steve put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek, making her blush.  
“I like your hair curled like this. It’s really pretty,” Steve complimented.  
“Thanks.”  
They walked to the above ground carport. There they got into a black SUV with Natasha, Clint, Dr. Banner, Thor, Loki and Agent Coulson, who was sitting shotgun.  
“Natasha, Belle you both look lovely this evening,” Coulson told them.  
“Thank you,” they both said simultaneously.  
“Hey Phil, where have you been lately?” Belle asked him.  
She hadn’t seen him around much lately and she was starting to miss their light conversations.  
“Just S.H.I.E.L.D. business,” he answered, as if that answered her question, but Belle nodded, not wanting to pry.  
She noticed Loki staring out the window his face showing his boredom.  
“Are you not looking forward to the party Loki? She asked him.  
Loki turned to her from his seat in the back next to Thor. “Not particularly.”  
“He would have preferred to stay at base and read, much like you Belle,” Thor chuckled.  
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Belle said. “As a matter of fact if you’d like some Midgardian literature you’re welcome to borrow any of my books Loki.”  
“Thank you,” Loki replied, nodding his head before turning to look back out the window.  
“Tony says this will be a total rager,” Natasha said, using air quotes around the word rager.  
“Rager?” belle asked.  
“Yeah apparently that’s the word you kids use these days.”  
Belle laughed, “I wouldn’t have any idea,” she said continuing to laugh at the thought of Tony using the word rager to describe his party.  
“You’re in college; I bet you’ve been to quite a lot of outrageous parties,” Natasha said.  
“Not really, parties aren’t really my thing,” Belle said.  
“That’s why you were so nervous when we were getting ready,” Natasha stated.  
Belle bit her lip and nodded.  
“Let me guess, you preferred the company of books to parties?” Thor teased.  
“You know me too well Thor,” Belle said, sticking her tongue out at him before reaching back and flicking him on the nose with her index finger. When he tried to grab her hand she jerked it back before Thor’s hand was even halfway in the air and Loki chuckled at their teasing. He could tell that his brother saw Bellethiel as the little sister he never had and he found her teasing with Thor quite amusing.  
She grew slightly uncomfortable when she noticed the intense way that Loki was looking at her, as if he was trying to figure her out. She turned back around in her seat.  
“If you get uncomfortable or tired just let me know and we can leave,” Steve said, looking at her.  
“Okay, thank you,” she said before placing a kiss on his cheek and resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.  
When they arrived at Tony’s place it was somewhat packed and completely lit up. Belle could hear the rhythmic thumping of music as they neared the front door. She gaped at the house which was very much Tony Stark.  
When they entered Belle was startled as someone pulled her up in a hug. It was Tony. She hugged him back and he set her back down on her feet.  
“Welcome to my rager you guys! Have fun!” Tony yelled.  
Belle erupted into a fit of laughter.  
“What?” Tony asked. “Isn’t that what you kids say now-a-days?”  
Belle took a deep breath. “No, I don’t know, but thanks for that,” she said, her laughter starting to subside.  
“You know what? I hear you startled Loki today, and because of that and the way you’re dressed I think I’ll start calling you Little Loki,” Tony said.  
Belle grabbed his hand before he could ruffle her hair and he laughed. “The way I’m dressed?”  
“Yeah the shiny black pants, green top, gold blazer definitely a little Loki.”  
Belle looked at Loki to see him smirking at her.  
She grabbed Steve’s hand. “Let’s find the snacks. I’m starving.”  
They walked into a large dining room. There was a huge table filled with snacks. Bowls were full of crackers, chips, pretzels, tortilla chips and a variety of dips. There were platters of meat and cheese, finger sandwiches, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, cake pops, rice krispie treats, and even two chocolate fountains, one for milk and one for white, surrounded by bowls of various fruit for dipping. There was another smaller table that had several punch bowls on it filled with non-alcoholic drinks; alcohol was being served from the bartender in another room.  
Belle and Steve filled their plates with a little bit of everything and got their punch before heading into another room.  
There they sat down on a couch with Thor who decided to pick off of Belle’s plate. She smacked his hand at first but to no avail, so she gave up.  
Loki sat across from them on a loveseat by himself, a bored expression on his face as Thor started telling anyone who seemed interested stories from his childhood.  
“I believe you have that last bit wrong brother,” Loki said, speaking for the first time. “I believe it was Sif that had you pinned and begging for mercy, not the other way around.”  
Thor chuckled. “Yes you are correct brother,” he said happily before grabbing the last cookie off of Belle’s plate. She had eaten a total of three crackers and a peanut butter rice krispie treat thanks to Thor’s appetite.  
Belle looked up and saw who she knew was Jane Foster entering the room.  
She nudged Thor in his side and pointed to her. Thor rose from his seat and went to Jane, pulling her into his arms and kissing her fiercely. Thor led her to meet his friends.  
“Jane may I introduce you to Steve Rogers, Bellethiel Norse, and my brother Loki.”  
Jane shook Steve’s hand and then Belle’s.  
“Norse?” Jane inquired.  
“Ironic I know,” Belle said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”  
“It’s nice to meet you too.”  
When Jane turned to greet Loki instead of taking his outstretched hand she reached up and slapped him across the face.  
“Whoa!” Belle said, coming to Loki’s defense.  
“That was for New Mexico,” Jane said.  
Thor laughed and Loki just smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too Lady Jane.”  
“Are you hungry Jane,” Thor asked, before leading her to the room with all of the food.  
“Would you like anything Belle?” Steve asked.  
“Just some more punch please.”  
Steve nodded and left.  
Belle sat down next to Loki who had resumed his place on the loveseat.  
“Are you alright?” she asked him.  
“I’m quite alright,” he answered, making eye contact.  
Belle nodded. “You’re not enjoying this are you?”  
“Parties don’t particularly pique my interest either,” he said.  
“Well since we’re here we might as well have fun right? I could get you something to eat or drink if you like?”  
“No, but thank you.”  
Belle bit her lip. “Hmmm well I can’t let you sit here like this. Tony said there’s a game room, come on. I’m challenging you to a game,” she said, standing up.  
“That’s not exactly fair is it? Seeing as I don’t know the kind of games you play here.”  
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you,” she said.  
“I think I would rather just stay here.”  
“Afraid you’ll be beaten by a girl?” Belle teased, hands on hips.  
Loki’s eyes lit up at her words and Belle turned when she heard Thor and Steve laughing behind her.  
“Oh go on brother! Tonight is meant for having fun!” Thor said.  
“Well I suppose when you put it that way Belle,” Loki said, standing.  
Belle kissed Steve on the cheek. “I’ll be right back, after I beat Loki at air hockey.”  
“That’s what you think,” Loki smirked as she turned to him and they headed for the game room.  
There was no one else in the game room but the music was blasting. Belle smiled when she saw that there was in fact an air hockey game. She turned it on and handed Loki a paddle and explained the game to him. Belle dropped the puck onto the middle of the table and before Loki even saw her arm move the puck went into his goal.  
Belle cheered.  
“Enjoy that Lady Belle because you won’t be doing it again,” Loki said.  
After three extremely competitive rounds of air hockey, two of foozeball, and one of pool, Loki followed Belle out of the game room.  
Look At You by Screaming Trees was playing as they walked into the room they had been in before which the majority of the space in the room was reserved for the dance floor.  
“Would you care to dance?” Loki asked Belle.  
“Oh um, sure,” she said taking his outstretched hand.  
She was surprised by how well Loki led her around the floor, one hand firmly on her waist and the other holding one of her hands in his as they swayed to the music. He spun her out, and pulled her back to him, causing her to giggle. When the song ended, Loki bowed to her and took her hand, placing a kiss on it and causing her skin to tingle for the second time that day.  
“Thank you for the dance and thank you for being so kind to me today. You do not look at me as if you expect me to blow up the place any second.”  
Belle didn’t laugh, she simply smiled up at him. “No, thank you and of course, I know you won’t. People, Asgardians, make mistakes.”  
Loki observed Belle for the rest of the evening, sometimes directly but usually out of the corner of his eye.  
Belle had been very kind and friendly to him even though she barely knew him, as well as knowing his reputation.  
Because of her he had actually enjoyed himself at this party that he had been dreading since Thor told him he had to attend. He decided he wanted to get to know her more.  
He watched her dance with Steve and when they shared kisses he felt something foreign to him. Jealousy? Nonsense. He hardly knew this girl.  
He wondered if perhaps the reason why she was being so kind towards him was because she felt sorry for him, ridiculous. But if he found that to be the case then he would make her see that Loki wasn’t someone who took others pity.  
He thought back to earlier, how she had surprised him. Despite his whirring thoughts a smile crossed his features and he knew that she would haunt his dreams that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Look at You by Screaming Trees is my theme song for Loki in this chapter and many chapters to come. To me it kind of expresses his feelings about Belle.


	11. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> The Weeknd (Catching Fire soundtrack)-Devil May Cry  
> Imagine Dragons (Catching Fire soundtrack)-Who We Are  
> Ellie Goulding (Divergent soundtrack)-Hanging On

That evening Belle was curled up in her bed, Rory lying on the corner of her pillow as usual although instead of sleeping he was playing with her hair. He squeaked when she stirred, a groan escaping her lips.  
She was dreaming. In her dream she was standing in front of Steve and Loki, only a few feet separating them from her.  
“Belle you can’t be serious?” Steve said.  
“What?” she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.  
There was nothing else in the room, in fact it seemed endless. There were no walls and nothing but brilliant white light surrounded them.  
She reached a hand up to shield her eyes from the light as Loki spoke next.  
“Belle, please.”  
“Please what?” she asked only growing more confused.  
“Belle, you can’t listen to him, he’s the god of lies and mischief. You can’t believe a word he says,” Steve implored.  
“Belle, I am telling you the truth, you must listen. You know what, who, is best for you,” Loki said calmly.  
“Best for me?” she asked, completely lost.  
At that Loki walked towards her and took her hands in his as Steve looked on helplessly. When he brought one up to place a kiss on it, her eyes flew open, not because he was about to kiss her hand but because of a scream from the room across from hers.  
Loki, she thought, sitting up and without a second thought throwing the covers off of her.  
She opened his door and with the light from the hallway saw him clutching his sheets in his fists, his face contorted in pain.  
She entered the room.  
“Loki! Loki wake up!” she said, gently shaking his shoulders.  
His eyes flew open and he pushed her so that she landed on her backside on the floor. She watched warily as he sat up and his chest heaved with each breath he took. He turned the lamp on that was on the nightstand and looked at her, still on the floor.  
“Belle?”  
“Um, I heard you screaming. You were having a nightmare so I woke you up. I guess I startled you.”  
He reached a hand out and helped her up, pulling her onto the edge of the bed next him.  
“Thank you,” he breathed, running a hand through his hair. “I was indeed having a nightmare.”  
“Loki has nightmares?” she asked jokingly.  
He chuckled. “Yes, even I have nightmares.”  
It wasn’t until now that she noticed he was shirtless. Despite the blush that rose to her cheeks she couldn’t look away. His skin was pale, glistening from sweat brought on by his nightmare in the soft lamplight. It wasn’t until now that she saw the soft scars on his face and shoulders, the light from the lamp making them prominent.  
Absentmindedly she reached out and lightly traced her index finger down a long scar that ran from the top of his shoulder, to just below his clavicle. She jerked her hand away when he let out a small gasp at the contact.  
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking away.  
“It’s quite alright,” he said, his eyes locking with hers as she looked back at him.  
“What are those from? If you don’t mind me asking.”  
“Up until a few days ago I was in a very dark place.”  
“After you fell from the Bifrost?”  
He nodded.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“You do not have to apologize. It was not your doing.”  
She knew that of course, but still the fact that he was having nightmares over it worried her. She knew what happened wasn’t her business either but she wanted him to know that he could confide in her if he ever needed to.  
“I know but I’m sorry you had to go through whatever it was that you went through. I’m here if you ever need to talk about it.”  
Loki stared at her for a moment; the same look on his face as from the car ride to Tony’s party, as if he were trying to figure her out.  
“Thank you,” he finally said his eyes soft although she could still see some of the fear from his nightmare in them. But she figured it was Loki, he was a big boy so she would leave him alone now that she checked on him.  
“Well you’re alright so I’ll leave you alone now.”  
When she rose from the bed, Loki gently wrapped his hand around her wrist. Without either of them saying a word she sat back down and he released her hand.  
“Why are you here?” she asked.  
“I am being babysat by my brother obviously.”  
She laughed. “Yes but why come to Midgard? I thought you hate Midgard? Why not go back home to Asgard?”  
“Believe it or not but I have missed my brother. And I’m finding Midgard to be much more bearable with your presence.”  
“Oh, um, does Thor know that?” she said, ignoring his last comment.  
“No, and I would like to keep it that way.”  
“But why? If you’ve missed him you should tell him, he’s your brother.”  
“Yes but it’s a bit more complicated than that.”  
“No, it’s not. He’s your brother. He should know that you’ve missed him, especially after everything that happened in New Mexico. He should know you feel remorse.”  
Loki snorted. “You think I’m here because I feel remorse for what I’ve done? You stupid, naïve girl, you know nothing,” he hissed.  
Belle jerked away from him at his sudden change in mood and stood up.  
“Fine then, be like that. But don’t think for a minute you’re fooling me Loki. I see right through you and you know it and you hate it.”  
At that she stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.  
Loki sighed and lay back in bed, running his hands across his face. That infuriating girl! How dare she assume that he felt remorse, that she knew him after only just meeting him hardly a day ago. After a few minutes he knew he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep so he gathered his clothes and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.  
Belle was in her room, also knowing she wasn’t going to get anymore sleep. She pulled on a pair of running pants, a tank top, a track jacket and her sneakers. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, fed Rory some staple pellets and grabbed her iPod. Just as Loki was coming out of his room to head to the bathroom she ran past him. Out on the street she put in her ear buds and began to jog.  
Two hours later she walked into the kitchen where Loki, Thor, Jane, Bruce, and Steve were gathered around the table.  
Loki stopped laughing along with his brother at some unknown joke and watched Belle as she went to the cabinet and got a glass, filling it with water and gulping it down.  
“Have a good run Belle?” Bruce asked, looking over the newspaper he was reading.  
She nodded and pulled out the chair next to Steve. He pushed a plate with a waffle on it to her.  
“Loki said you’d left. I figured you went for a run so I saved you a waffle. I almost had to fight Thor for this one.”  
“Thanks,” she said, her and Thor laughing before she kissed Steve on the cheek.  
“Could you keep your silly human affection to yourselves?” Loki asked, a scowl on his face.  
Belle glared at him as she chewed a bite of food.  
“Oh leave them alone brother. I think it is sweet,” Thor said.  
“Perhaps you should find someone to be with yourself Loki, and then it won’t seem so silly,” Jane said, not looking from the paper that she was reading along with Bruce.  
Loki snorted. “As if anyone could be worthy of me.” He rose from his chair and left.  
“Well someone’s in a mood this morning,” Steve said.  
“I heard him screaming early this morning,” Jane noted.  
“Yes he is having nightmares, although from what I do not know,” Thor said.  
“He was in a dark place,” Belle said causing everyone to look at her. “After he fell from the Bifrost. I mean do you even know where he went? What he went through?” Belle said, directing her questions at Thor.  
“No I’m afraid he will not speak of it although I have tried many times since he arrived here,” Thor answered.  
“Perhaps you should try spending some time with him, as brothers you know,” Jane suggested.  
Belle nodded in agreement.  
“Perhaps but Loki is not an easy one to spend time with, nor talk to.”  
“You should at least try,” Jane said and Belle nodded in agreement, thinking of her earlier conversation with Loki.


	12. Getting Under Each Other's Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Loki is motivated by jealousy, pride, ambition and vanity. Can he forgive himself? Is he even self-aware enough to know that’s what he needs?”-Tom Hiddleston on Loki. Okay so this quote here is going to play a huge part in how I write Loki, his interactions/feelings for Belle, etc.  
> Playlist:  
> Skrillex and Killa Graham feat. Sam Drew (Divergent soundtrack)-Stranger  
> A$AP Rocky feat. Gesaffelstein (Divergent soundtrack)-In Distress  
> Eva Simmons-I Don’t Like You (Fred Falke Remix)  
> Alice Cooper-Poison  
> Jared Leto-Run  
> Zedd (Divergent soundtrack)-Find You
> 
> P.S. Thank you to my awesome reader/reviewer Extended Experience (over at FF.net) where this story is also posted, for making the paintball suggestion, which started a small PM convo and inspired the idea for the chapter after this one!

Belle and Steve spent the rest of the day together, spending a few hours training one on one, then just hanging out around town.  
That evening Belle walked into the living room and smiled when she saw Thor teaching Loki how to play Egyptian Rat Screw. Jane had left a few hours ago; apparently Darcy had broken some very important equipment and somehow also managed to set it on fire.  
“This game is ridiculous brother,” Loki said, a look of pure boredom on his face as Thor won another hand.  
“Belle taught me how to play it. I think it is quite fun,” he said, looking to her as she sat down on the couch to watch them play.  
She noted that Loki was doing his best not to look at her.  
“You look lovely Lady Belle. Do you have a date with Steve?” Thor asked.  
Belle nodded. She was wearing a pair of beige corduroys and a light burgundy sweater. Her hair was pulled into a low side ponytail and her lips show a hint of her golden lip gloss.  
“We’re going to see a showing of 1939’s Wuthering Heights. Laurence Olivier plays Heathcliff,” she said, a dreamy look on her face. “He’s my favorite actor, ever. Ah!” she squeaked as she was suddenly lifted off the couch and into Steve’s arms. She laughed as he placed a kiss on her neck before setting her down.  
“Ready to go?”  
“Yep,” she said, kissing him on the lips.  
After they left Loki rose from his seat. “I think I’m going to retire for the evening.”  
“Loki, why does their affection bother you so much?” Thor asked, gathering up the cards.  
“It’s disgusting, that is all.”  
“Brother, do you have feelings for Belle?” Thor inquired with a knowing look in his eyes.  
“I assure you I do not besides like I said earlier no one could ever be worthy of me.”  
“Brother I will only warn you once for you do not fool me, if you mess up Steve and Belle’s relationship, if you hurt her, I will send you straight back to Asgard to be under father’s supervision. She is happy with him, and he with her.”  
Loki said nothing and left the room.  
~O.o~  
After Steve and Belle returned from the movie Belle got out a jar of applesauce from the refrigerator and grabbed a spoon. She sat down at the table across from Bruce and ate a spoonful. Steve grabbed a spoon and as he sat down next to her she slid the jar his way.  
It was funny how they did things like that without even asking each other.  
Steve dipped his spoon in the jar before passing it back to her.  
“Oh can’t you guys swap spit some other way?” Tony said, entering the kitchen. “I was just going to eat some of that.”  
“The last time you asked me for some of my applesauce you ate the whole jar,” Belle said, pointing her spoon at him.  
“Well you don’t have to worry about this one. So I hear we’re planning a day out with Loki?” Tony asked.  
“Yes,” Thor said, entering the kitchen and taking the jar of applesauce as well as the spoon Belle had just dipped in it.  
“Hey! Thor!” Belle yelled playfully.  
She zipped up from the table and tried to get it back but despite her speed Thor was taller. He laughed as he ate a big spoonful.  
“I can’t have anything around here with you people, well food that is,” Belle joked as she sat back down.  
“So does this day out include everyone?” Steve asked.  
“Yes. I talked to Tony and he suggested a game of paintball. Although I have no idea what that is,” Thor said looking at Tony.  
“Paintball! Awesome!” Belle exclaimed. It was going to be awesome playing that with everyone. She’d never actually played herself but she had a pretty good idea of it.  
“We are to all meet at my place tomorrow after noon,” Tony said.  
~O.o~  
Belle headed to Loki’s room to tell him about tomorrows plan. When she knocked on the door it opened. He was sitting on his bed, fully dressed in his mortal clothes, a black button up shirt, black dress pants and shiny black dress shoes. The only thing that changed day to day about his outfit was the color of his shirts.  
“Um, I’m just letting you know that the whole team, including you, will be playing paintball tomorrow. We’re to be at Stark’s place after noon.”  
“And I’m expected to participate?” he said, not looking away from the book he was reading.  
“Yes of course. I said ‘including you.’ Is that my book?” she asked, seeing her copy of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in his hand.  
“I recall you saying I could borrow your books.”  
“Yes but I thought you were angry at me,” she said honestly.  
He waved his hand as if to dismiss that. “No.”  
“Oh, well it hasn’t seemed like that today. Do you like that play so far?” she asked, stepping further into the room.  
“Yes as a matter of fact I do.”  
She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. “You know I think you can probably relate to Hamlet.”  
“How so?” he asked seriously, quirking a brow at her.  
“Well you’re both struggling with the light and dark sides of yourselves. Well I guess I’ll see you later. You can bring that back and get another when you’re done,” she said pointing at the book.  
And with that Belle left the room and headed to bed, leaving Loki staring at her door from his bed, his heart racing.  
Who was she, a mere mortal, to say that he was struggling? Who was she to talk like she knows him better then he knew himself? Or to insist that he join the others in some silly game?  
He rose from the bed, anger bubbling up in him and burst through her door.  
She jumped, startled as she was about to change into her pajamas.  
He strode towards her and shoved her hard against the wall.  
“If you know what’s good for you, you will cease speaking to me like you know me. You don’t know anything about me, you are but a frail, stupid little mortal girl who needs to mind her own business before she gets hurt!” he fumed.  
She tried to get out of his grip, but despite her speed he was much stronger.  
“Do not speak to me like that ever again you pathetic mewling quim,” he hissed, his nose almost touching hers, his eyes showing nothing but anger, but also, Belle noted, fear?  
She finally shoved him away from her. She surprised both of them when she slapped him hard across his face. She stood in fear for a moment, wondering if he would retaliate. She shook her head and then chose to speak.  
“What is your problem? All I’ve been trying to do is be nice to you, make you feel welcome! You said so yourself I don’t look at you like everyone else does! I thought that was a good thing!”  
He shoved her copy of Hamlet hard into her chest and turned on his heel, entering his room and slamming his door.  
A few minutes later she was still standing there with silent tears running down her face.  
“Belle?”  
She looked up to see Thor entering her room. “Are you alright?” he asked.  
“I’m fine, it’s nothing.” She waved her hand in the air, dismissing her tears. “I’m just tired is all.”  
She didn’t want to tell Thor what happened, it was between her and Loki and she knew there was enough tension between Thor and his brother as it was.  
Thor wrapped his arms around her. “Well then, I suggest you get some sleep then little one.” He kissed the top of her head and left softly closing the door behind him.  
Thor burst into Loki’s room and shoved him into the wall.  
“What did you do!?” Thor roared.  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about brother.”  
“Thor, Loki, what’s going on?” Steve said, seeing the commotion. He had been in Dr. Banner’s lab, talking with him and had been on his way to say goodnight to Belle.  
“I warned you brother, if you hurt her I would send you home.”  
“Hurt who?” Loki asked, feigning innocence.  
Thor pulled him back and shoved him hard into the wall again, cracking the plaster.  
“Whoa, hey now,” Steve said. “What is going on?”  
“Go on brother; tell him how you made Belle cry.”  
Loki’s eyes widened just slightly, he had not meant to bring Belle to tears. In all honesty he hadn’t meant to be so cruel to her in the first place but her kindness towards him was starting to get under his skin. And although he would never admit it, seeing Belle and Steve’s affection toward one another also grated on his nerves and made him feel surges of jealousy, which only angered him further.  
“What do you mean make Belle cry?” Steve asked.  
“I have no idea what he is referring to Captain. I assure you I have done nothing,” Loki lied coolly.  
“You will apologize to her,” Thor demanded.  
“As I said, I’ve done nothing,” Loki said, shrugging his shoulders.  
“Loki!” Thor roared again.  
“Okay, okay. Don’t do anything rash Thor. I’ll go talk to Belle.” Just as Steve said that she entered the room.  
“What is going on!?” she asked, seeing Thor holding his brother against the, now cracked, bedroom wall. “Thor put Loki down,” and then quickly added, “gently.”  
“Are you alright? What happened?” Steve asked, going to her as Thor did as Belle asked.  
“It’s nothing. I just said something to Loki that got under his skin. It’s alright.”  
“No it’s not alright. Even if your words angered him he had no right to say anything hurtful to you.”  
“I’m fine,” she answered, a small smile on her face to reassure him.  
“Belle?” Thor looked at her.  
“She’ll be alright, as a matter of fact she’s going to come home with me,” Steve said.  
Belle looked at Steve, surprised.  
Everyone missed the look of anger that came to Loki’s face as he was looking away as if something in his room had his attention.  
“I am?”  
“If you want. I’ll sleep on my pullout couch and we can get breakfast at our diner in the morning if you want.” Belle took our diner to mean the diner where they had their first date.  
She nodded.  
“I think that is best,” Thor said.  
“Loki,” Thor said, running his hands down his face. “How could you be cruel to one of the few people who likes you here. Belle has been nothing but welcoming and kind to you and this is how you thank her?”  
“You seem surprised brother.”  
“Loki,” Thor warned.  
“Go ahead brother, call Heimdall, send me to Asgard, to father.”  
“Is that what you want?”  
“Does it matter what I want? I might be here, but I am still under your ever watchful eyes.”  
“And whose fault is that?”


	13. Paintball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> The Flamingos-I Only Have Eyes For You  
> Tyler Ward-Some Kind of Beautiful feat. Lindsay Stirling  
> Bjork-Army of Me  
> Survivor-Eye of the Tiger  
> Joan Jett and the Blackhearts-Bad Reputation  
> Black Sabbath-Paranoid  
> Filter-Hey Man Nice Shot  
> Led Zeppelin-Immigrant Song  
> The Prodigy-Serial Thrilla  
> Shiny Toy Guns-Starts With One  
> Paul Richards-U Do 2 Me  
> Iron Butterfly-In A Gadda Da Vida

The next morning Belle woke to the sun streaming through unfamiliar windows.  
She stretched and turned to look at the clock. It was a little passed 9:00 AM.  
She turned over on her side and took a deep breath. Despite the drama going on she fell asleep quickly the night before, mostly due to the fact that Steve’s scent was all over the place, particularly on his sheets, and it seemed to relax her.  
She got out of bed and grabbed her toiletry bag she brought with her. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. When she was done she entered the small living room. She smiled when she saw Steve asleep on the pull out couch, snoring softly.  
She gently jumped on top of him, startling him. He jerked awake, spluttering and bolting upright. She had to grab onto him to keep from falling off the bed.  
He laughed when he saw it was Belle and pulled her down on top of him.  
She grabbed either side of his face in her hands and kissed him. In response he pulled her tighter against his bare chest and she let out a small gasp when his tongue slipped in between her lips.  
Her hands wound their way through his hair as his hands went under the hem of her night shirt to rest at the small of her back. Belle shivered at the sudden warmth there.  
Belle moved a bit and Steve groaned. She broke the kiss, realizing she’d accidently rubbed against his manhood and also realizing how erect it was. The only thing between him and her were his boxers and her pajamas. She turned even redder when she realized this was the closest and furthest they’d been together.  
She looked at Steve and saw his face was flushed red as well. She kissed his nose and moved from her position on top of him to lie next to him, resting her head on his chest.  
“We should stay here all day, watch a movie or something,” Belle said with a sigh. She was happy, something she hadn’t expected when she first arrived here.  
“I thought you were excited to play paintball?” Steve asked.  
“I am, but I like this too.”  
“So do I,” Steve said. He smirked and quickly moved so he was hovering over her, his legs on either side of hers and his hands on either side of her head on the bed.  
“What?” she asked at the look on his face.  
In answer he immediately started tickling her.  
“No! No! Stop! Ahahahahahahahaha Steve! Stop! Ahaha I can’t breathe! Ahaha!” She tried to keep his hands away but to no avail.  
After what felt like forever of Steve’s tickling torture she managed to dash out from underneath him to the other side of the bed.  
“That was a mistake Captain,” she teased, pointing a finger at him.  
“Oh was it?”  
“Yes. I’m afraid I can’t allow you to kiss me for the rest of the day because of such behavior.”  
“I may be Captain America but I’m not so sure I can withstand that.”  
“Well you’ll just have to and…”  
Before she could finish the sentence Steve lunged toward her, catching her off guard. He pulled her into his arms and placed kisses all over her face and in her hair.  
He laughed when he heard her stomach rumble from hunger and kissed her just behind her ear before he released her.  
“I’m going to take a shower and get ready. Then we’ll head to the diner for some breakfast.”  
Belle nodded and got up from the bed. She’d brought her backpack with some clothes so while Steve showered she changed into jeans and a black V-neck tee.  
She left Rory in Bruce’s care and she wondered how that went. Rory had never been apart from her at night before.  
As she waited she noticed what looked like files on an end table. She picked them up. One was about Bucky Barnes, who she knew from her briefing when she first arrived was Steve’s best friend that died fighting Hydra. The other was on Peggy Carter, who she also knew from her briefing.  
Steve came into the room fully dressed and hair perfectly in place.  
“You miss them, don’t you?”  
“Yeah,” he answered quietly, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.  
“You know Peggy’s still alive. You should visit her,” Belle suggested.  
“You think that’s a good idea?”  
“I can see that you want to. I think it would be good for you.”  
“Would you go with me? If I asked you too? I’m not so sure if I can go by myself.”  
“Of course,” Belle said, turning around to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m here for you, whenever, through whatever. I promise. I love you.”  
Steve smiled at her words. “I’m here for you also, always, through whatever. I love you.”  
He pulled her up into his arms and kissed her.  
~O.o~  
As they entered the diner Belle was surprised to see Bruce, Thor, and especially Loki at the diner.  
To anyone else they all looked like regular people, not that they weren’t, but they definitely didn’t look like superheroes as they browsed their menus.  
“Um, hey guys,” Belle said, taking the seat across from Bruce.  
“Morning Belle, Steve,” Bruce said.  
“Morning Dr. Banner,” Steve greeted as he took the seat next to Belle and across from Thor.  
Thor set down his menu and cleared his throat. Loki looked up from his menu and looked at Belle, apparently taking a cue from Thor.  
“I’m sorry about last night. My words caused you pain and I apologize. I did not mean for that.”  
Belle studied him for a moment. “Apology accepted and I’m sorry for getting under your skin like that, I didn’t mean to set you off.”  
Loki nodded, silently saying apology accepted.  
The table was in an awkward silence for a moment. The waitress came and took their drink and food orders and everyone looked around, unsure whether or not to start a conversation. Belle was the one to break the silence.  
“But just so you know Loki we’re on separate teams today and your ass is mine.”  
At that they all laughed, except for Loki. He simply smirked at her cheekiness.  
“So Bruce how was Rory?” Belle asked, directing her attention to Bruce.  
“He was fine, but a total pillow hog.”  
Belle laughed.  
“So Tony is, well Peppers putting together a charity ball a few weeks from now. He’s invited all of us. It’s very formal,” Bruce told them.  
After they left the diner and were walking to the base, Belle’s arm in Steve’s, Steve stopped.  
He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and she watched as he picked out a single red rose from a street vendor.  
He turned back to her with a smile and held the rose out to her. “Belle, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the charity ball?”  
Belle took the rose from him, “It would be my pleasure Captain.”  
Steve smiled before bending down and kissing her chastely on the lips.  
~O.o~  
A little past noon everyone was standing outside the entrance of an indoor paintball course that Tony had rented out for a few hours. They were all dressed in black ensembles, listening as the referee explained the rules to them. Belle was especially amused to see Loki wearing his paintball garb. He glanced at her seeing that she was looking at him and she looked back to the ref.  
“Alright so who’s the team captains?” the ref asked.  
“I am,” Tony said. “Since I paid for it, and well, it was my idea. Hmmmm.” He looked around at the rest of them. “Natasha, you be the other team captain.”  
Natasha smiled, “Of course.”  
Belle spoke up. “Um, can Loki and I be on opposite teams?”  
Tony, Natasha and Clint looked at her, confused.  
“You know, so I can kick his ass?” she clarified.  
Everyone laughed, except Loki who was smirking at her. He wore a look on his face that clearly said, ‘bring it on.’  
“Alright then, Natasha, ladies first,” Tony said.  
“Alright. Belle.”  
“Alright then, that means I get Loki. You better look out ladies. That includes you Spangles.”  
Steve rolled his eyes.  
The teams ended up being Tony, Loki, Bruce, and Steve, much to Tony and Steve’s annoyance, against Natasha, Belle, Clint and Thor.  
“Alright, teams you have ten minutes to hide your flags. At the sound of the whistle the game starts. First team to capture the other team’s flag wins.”  
“Getting shot doesn’t mean you’re out of the game for this one.” Tony added, “Oh and feel free to be as rough as possible.”  
At that they were all let into the course and then each team separated to go hide their flags.  
“Okay any ideas? Clint?” Natasha asked as they ran to the opposite end from the entrance.  
Belle looked around, there were all kinds of things to hide behind, big truck tires, wooden and metal walls of all heights and widths. It looked like an obstacle course of sorts. There were steps that led to higher vantage points, walkways and hideouts. She could see metal railings that winded all around above them with variations of walls, some clear thick plastic, others wood and metal. There were open windows all throughout said walls so you could shoot through them and down on to the other team.  
Clint nodded, “I see a good spot. I’ll take it. If we all go to the same spot and they see, we’ll give it away.”  
Everyone nodded their agreement.  
“Okay, so Clint will stay closest to the flag since he has the best sight. Thor…”  
“I’ll get you to their side, easily.”  
“Right, Belle you and me will get as close as we can to their side so we can look for their flag.”  
Belle nodded just as the whistle signaling the start of the game sounded. They pulled down their protective masks and raised their paintball guns.  
Thor took off slowly, Natasha and Belle following behind him. They all ducked as paintballs whizzed past.  
“May I suggest a change of tactics?” Thor said. “I will go up top, you two keep going.”  
Belle and Natasha nodded.  
Thor quickly climbed up a set of metal stairs and took two pink paintballs to his left calf, groaning slightly when they made contact and busted.  
Belle looked to Natasha who nodded and they both took off on either side of the wall they were hiding behind.  
Belle was immediately hit in the thigh and she winced from the pain. She ducked behind a tire and peered over it. Tony. Oh he was so hers. She decided to put her powers to use and dashed around so fast Thor could barely keep up with her from his view above as he kept an eye out.  
Tony grunted when he was hit in the side, seeing neon pink goo on his shirt. He turned, gun ready and saw a flash move away. He smiled.  
“Oh you are mine Little Loki!” he yelled.  
He spotted her behind a tire ten feet away and moved to the side to sneak up on her. As he rounded on her she turned and fell flat on her back. She was fast though and shot him point blank, pink goo covering his chest. When he shot her in the thigh she brought her knee up. He grunted and fell to his knees after her knee made swift and hard contact with his manhood.  
He looked at her as she stood up, his eyes watering with pain.  
“You did say we could play as rough as possible,” she placed a kiss on the top of his head and dashed off.  
She was heading back towards Natasha when she was shot in the stomach. Bruce. No one was sure if he would agree to play paintball, being afraid he might Hulk out but he assured them he was good. He needed some carefree fun once in a while. So Belle dashed forward, shot him twice in the left leg and dashed away. He could hear her giggle as she left. Bruce managed to get a shot in, hitting her right shoulder even though she was a blur moving from barricade to barricade.  
She kept moving forward and caught up with Natasha behind one of the metal barricades.  
Natasha pointed. “Do you see it?”  
Belle looked to see their green flag at the very top, in the rafters of all places, just above the edge of the top of a rock wall. She nodded and surveyed the area around it. “Loki’s guarding it.”  
“We need to go up on the level with Thor and make our way there. I can distract him while you dash around and get it. He’ll never see you.”  
“No but he’ll be expecting it.”  
Natasha nodded, “Yes, he will but what do you think will happen if Thor engages him?”  
“He won’t be able to resist,” Belle smiled mischievously.  
“Right, so that’s our play. Let’s go up top and tell Thor.”  
On the count of three they took off, running back to the steps Thor took earlier. Clint was engaged with Tony.  
“He’s seen our flag,” Belle said.  
Natasha nodded. “Wait,” she stopped once they were up the stairs. “Where’s Bruce?”  
“There!” Belle pointed to Bruce who was sneaking his way towards the flag while Tony was distracting Clint. Clint spotted Bruce and moved to engage him but Tony grabbed him, slamming him down on the floor and pinning him.  
“I’ll go stop Bruce, you and Thor get the flag. Go!” Natasha took off towards Bruce and Belle dashed towards Thor who was about forty feet ahead of her. She dashed up to him in a few seconds.  
“Thor, Nat’s gone to stop Bruce from getting our flag. You need to engage Loki so I can get their flag.”  
Thor smiled. “Engage Loki in a friendly round of paintball fire? It would be my pleasure.”  
Belle followed Thor until he left down the other set of stairs near the other teams end. She ducked so Loki wouldn’t see her and she watched as Thor ran up to Loki, shooting him, pink goo decorating his chest and arms.  
Loki smirked and lifted his own gun. “Really brother, you want to go up against me?”  
“Oh yes brother,” Thor laughed. “This is very entertaining is it not brother?”  
“Indeed,” Loki said, shooting Thor before he could duck.  
Belle took that as her cue and she took off, a blur down the same stairs Thor had taken. She made it past Thor and Loki who were currently rolling around on the floor. She couldn’t help but laugh and imagined that must have happened a lot when they were growing up.  
It looked like Thor had Loki pinned but then he disappeared and showed up behind Thor, jumping on top of him. He used his powers to project himself to trick Thor.  
Belle made it to the bottom of the rock wall. Thankful her gun had a strap she slung it over her shoulder and proceeded to climb, grabbing on to one of many knotted ropes that hung from the top.  
Halfway up she heard a yell from below. Steve! He was climbing up after her, going to pull her back down. She sped up, the wall was tricky, even with her speed so she had to be careful or she could fall. The wall had to be fifty feet up. She wound the rope she was holding onto tight around one arm and took her gun off the other.  
She turned, aiming for Steve’s shoulder. She missed the first shot but got him on the second. It was in vain though because he just kept climbing. She slung her gun back over her shoulder and proceeded to climb, her eyes set on the flag.  
She looked to her left to see Loki scaling the wall, further up than Steve. She moved and in one swift movement her gun was in hand but as a paintball met Loki he disappeared. It was a trick, distracting her. She shook her head and continued climbing. She sped up, almost losing her footing a few times.  
Tony had come back to his team’s side and was shooting paintballs at her. One hit her in the back of her head and she yelled, feeling like her skull had been split. Her foot slipped and she clung to the rope as it swung away from the wall.  
Another paintball hit the arm she was holding onto the rope with and she slipped a little bit. She clenched her teeth and grabbed out with one hand so she was steady again and back on the wall.  
She let go of the rope, screw it she thought.  
Paintballs were splattering against the walls everywhere, some hitting her, some missing. She had two hands to work with now and she headed towards the top much faster. She was close when paintballs were raining down, well up, on her.  
She turned around, a mistake when a paintball hit one side of her mask blocking half her view. She saw Steve, Tony and Bruce shooting up at her. Nat pulled Steve from behind, slamming him down and taking his gun.  
“Go Belle go!” Natasha hollered.  
Belle turned around and scrambled to the top, yelling out and almost slipping as a shot hit her left hand.  
A few more moves up and she was at the top. She pulled herself up into the rafters and grabbed the flag. A sound filled the room, alerting everyone that the game was over. She waved it in the air as Clint came running and Natasha and Thor were whooping in victory!  
Belle laughed and whooped back.  
Her face changed to one of pure surprise as she lost her footing and slipped. She didn’t even have time to scream as she fell but she let out a yelp when she landed hard in someone’s arms.  
She looked up to see Loki. She was almost hyperventilating from the surprise, clutching onto Loki.  
“Are you alright?” he asked, genuine concern in his eyes.  
She swallowed and nodded before he gently set her down.  
Natasha, Thor and Clint came up to her. They clapped her on the back and they all whooped in victory together.  
Tony had his arms crossed and looked like someone had stolen Jarvis while Bruce just laughed.


	14. Loki's Day Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Wow long time without an update! But here’s the next chapter and thanks for sticking with me guys! Please review and enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers.  
> Playlist:  
> 38 Special-Caught Up In You

The next morning Belle was in her room, her door open, when Loki knocked on the doorframe.  
She hesitated. “Hey.”  
“Hello my dear,” he smiled brilliantly.  
She raised a brow at him.  
“I was wondering if you would like to accompany me out on the town for a little while?” he asked, standing in her room with his hands behind his back.  
“Umm sure I guess just let me get ready okay?”  
Loki nodded, smiling. “I will wait for you in the living room.”  
~O.o~  
First they went to a café to get coffee and bagels and sat outside in the fresh air.  
“So Bellethiel what do you do for fun in the city?” Loki asked.  
“Well I like to go to the movies and the bookstore. And the park is nice to hang out at too. I like to take a blanket and a book and just chill there. What about you?”  
“Well I haven’t explored too much.”  
“Thor likes to keep his eye on you,” she said.  
Loki nodded and she noted the barely noticeable change in his face. He wasn’t quite as happy as he had been before.  
“He looks at me as if I’m about to blow this place up. As if I would do that under the eyes of your ragtag team.”  
“Hey! We’re not that ragtag,” she laughed “I don’t think you would do that at all,” she said honestly.  
Loki just stared at her, his face almost blank, smile gone. She watched him as he looked away, pretending to watch the people walking by.  
She bit her lip, worried he might react like he did that night in her room. “Loki” she said softly, waiting for him to face her again. When he did she spoke “You know you wouldn’t do that.”  
“But I have. You know this.”  
“Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you’ll do the same thing again. That’s why they’re called mistakes. We’re supposed to learn from them.”  
After a moment of staring at each other Loki smiled. “Where shall we go next?” He got up from the table, taking their empty cups and trash and threw it away.  
Belle rose from her chair and pushed it in and slung her purse over her head and arm as Loki walked up to her. He held out his arm and she took it, allowing him to steer her down the street.  
“So shall we see what’s playing at the theater?” Loki asked.  
“Sure but we won’t go to the main theater. There’s an older theater that plays old movies.”  
Every now and then Loki would pull her closer to his side to keep someone who was rushing from bumping into her. She’d giggle every time.  
“Loki if someone bumps into me I’ll be alright.”  
“Nonsense,” Loki smiled looking down at her.  
They ended up watching Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean.  
“I quite like that movie,” Loki admitted as they were walking down the sidewalk.  
Belle was surprised. “Really?”  
“Is it so hard to believe that I may enjoy something mortal? Besides you,” he said.  
Belle blushed and looked away, trying to ignore his comment. Perhaps he was trying to get back at her by getting under her skin.  
Loki stopped in front of a bookstore. “Would you like to go in here?”  
Belle nodded and he opened the door for her.  
Inside the store Belle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of books filled the air and she sighed. When she opened her eyes Loki was staring at her with an amused look on his face.  
Belle just shrugged her shoulders and headed to the latest releases section at the front of the store.  
A young store clerk came up to Loki, her eyes excited. “Can I help you sir?” she asked him, her voice a bit too cheery.  
“Yes could you show me to the poetry section?” he asked, all charm, staring intently at the young girl. It really wasn’t fair, although he wasn’t doing it on purpose.  
Belle noticed how the store clerk blushed and stuttered a bit. “Sure, ri-right this way sir.”  
Belle suppressed a laugh at the completely indifferent look on Loki’s face. He had to know the effect he had on the female sex. She only let herself think about it for a minute but he was gorgeous. He was tall and lean and his dark hair slicked back, his pale skin and striking blue eyes were all rather perfect. Not to mention his confidence, his stride, that swagger he walked with and the unmistakable royal air about him. Add all that to his mysterious demeanor and any poor girl would be helpless to resist, putty in his hands. As she browsed Belle heard the girl trying to engage Loki in conversation but he paid her little attention as he ran his finger along the spines of the books. Belle picked up the book she wanted and wandered over to Loki. She could see where his jaw was clenched a bit, probably from the girls bantering.  
“So, um, maybe we could get a coffee sometime?” the girl asked, hands in her pockets, watching him eagerly, hopefully.  
“I’m afraid I’m unavailable,” he answered still not looking at her.  
The girl left, her face red from embarrassment and as she passed Belle she shot her an angry glare. Belle furrowed her brows.  
“Find anything?” Belle asked Loki.  
“Not really. Recommendations?” he asked looking to her.  
“Nope. You pick.”  
Loki stared for a moment before reaching out and grabbing a copy of selected poetry by Lord Byron, he quirked a brow at her, silently asking for her opinion.  
She nodded a small smile on her face.  
“Ready?” he asked and she nodded.  
At the counter he took her book from her hands and set it on the counter along with his. “You don’t have to do that Loki, I can get it.”  
“I have an excess of Midgardian currency while I’m here. It’s nothing.”  
After they left the bookstore Belle thanked him and when he held his arm out for her again she took it and they walked back to base.  
“You know Loki,” Belle started. “You can’t just go around breaking girls’ hearts.”  
“What?” Loki stopped and turned to face her. He looked thoroughly confused.  
“That girl, the employee at the book store? She was definitely crushing on you.”  
“I highly doubt that young woman could crush the likes of me.”  
He said it so seriously that Belle went into a fit of laughter.  
“What’s so funny?”  
“Loki! You sound just like Thor! And that’s not what crush means. A crush or crushing on someone simply means you like them.”  
“I see.”  
Belle laughed and looped her arm through his again.  
“Do you have a crush on anyone?” he asked.  
“Well I had a crush on Steve and now we’re in a relationship.”  
“Interesting.”  
“Are you telling me you’ve never experienced a crush before? I’m sure you’ve dated plenty of Asgardian maidens.”  
Loki chuckled. “Of course many beautiful young ladies coveted my attention. I’m a prince. I’m meant to be king.”  
“Isn’t Thor next in line?” she asked, unaware that she was hitting a very sore spot.  
He jerked them to a stop on the sidewalk and pulled her into an alley. “I am meant to be king,” he hissed in her ear. He pressed her further into the brick wall. “Not that oaf who calls himself my brother. He is arrogant, foolish. He will surely lead Asgard to ruin.”  
Belle wasn’t sure what to do or say as she opened her mouth. “Loki,” she said gently.  
He moved backwards a step and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.  
“Loki,” she said again as she moved closer to him. She reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes. They were no longer the hard, cold ones that she saw moments ago.  
He took her hand from his shoulder but instead of dropping it he kept it in his. “Belle, you are too kind to me.”  
“No, you’re just too hard on yourself. Quit worrying about being king and ruling. I understand that’s what you want but maybe now just isn’t your time.”  
Loki kissed her hand and she snatched it away in a second. It was alright to hold her hand when she was trying to calm him down but to kiss it was too much.  
Loki changed the conversation completely. “I couldn’t help but realize that you did not ‘kick my ass’ yesterday.”  
They stepped back onto the sidewalk. “Well not literally but my team won.”  
“That may be but I was quite looking forward to going one on one with you.”  
“Really?”  
~O.o~  
Loki stood with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. They were in the training room and standing across from each other on a mat.  
Belle was kicking off her shoes and Loki did the same, also taking off his nice button-up to reveal a white tank underneath.  
Belle did a double take. She hadn’t expected him to be so muscular. He looked almost scrawny underneath the outfit he wore when they first met, all that black and green and gold and leather and metal. His pale arms were lean but as he flexed, preparing, his muscles were even more prominent.  
“Okay. First one to pin the other down for ten seconds wins,” Belle said.  
Loki nodded.  
They’d been sparring for twenty minutes now and sweat glistened on their faces and arms.  
Belle twisted so that she moved over him, emulating a move Nat helped her master weeks ago. When her feet hit the ground she brought one of his arms behind his back with her. He slipped from her grasp, grabbing hold of the arm that held his and lifting her over his shoulder. Before she could land on her back she jerked from his grasp and landed on her knees. She spun on one foot and kicked out with another, bringing him down. She moved so she was on top of him, pinning his arms down and his legs pinned by her feet. Loki was stronger though and swiftly brought her down fully against him and rolled over. She tried to get out from under him but he pinned her down and counted.  
“Ten. I win!” He beamed down at her. “Did you really think you could best a god?”  
“Hey you’re the one who wanted to go one on one. I was just obliging.”  
Loki smirked and instead of removing himself he did the last thing she expected him to. He kissed her.  
Belle froze.  
“Was that not to your liking?” Loki asked.  
“Get off of me. Now.”  
Loki stood gracefully and reached a hand out to help her up. She slapped it away. When she was standing she smacked him hard across the cheek.  
Loki stood touching his cheek and smirking as she grabbed her shoes and dashed out of the room.  
As she headed back to her room she was hit with several foam darts. She looked up at the ceiling, watching as a tile slid back into place.  
“Clint! I am not in the mood!” she yelled kicking at the foam darts on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The idea for Clint hiding in the ceiling with a Nerf gun is from a post on Pinterest which I am sure originated on tumblr so credit to whoever came up with that and it was just too funny not to put in.


	15. Trouble is a Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nada.  
> Playlist:  
> Lenka-Trouble Is A Friend  
> Bon Iver & St. Vincent-Rosyln  
> Coldplay-Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall  
> Social Distortion-Bad Luck

That night Belle tossed and turned, in and out of dreams. Well, the same dream. One second she was kissing Steve but the next second when she opened her eyes in the dream she was looking into Loki’s bright blue eyes, not Steve’s. Each time she would wake up.  
She sat up, panting and ran a hand through her hair. She was so not going to make it through class in the morning and she was seriously considering just skipping it as she tried to recall if there was a quiz or test scheduled. She had just had one in her earliest class so she decided if she couldn’t get back to sleep she was most definitely ditching.  
She ended up going to class, doubling her normal amount of coffee to get through the day. When she was back from school she was heading to the kitchen when she came upon Steve and Bruce talking.  
“No, no not yet. It’s too soon and we have no idea how she’ll react,” she overheard Bruce say.  
“But she deserves to know,” Steve said, stopping mid-sentence when they noticed her.  
Bruce smiled at Belle and left without saying a word as she got closer.  
“Steve? Is everything okay?” she asked.  
He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes, everything’s fine.”  
She nodded. “Want to watch a movie?”  
He reached a hand up and scratched his neck. “Um, I actually have to go.” He leaned in and quickly kissed her on the lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow okay.”  
“Okay,” she said quietly, a little disappointed.  
Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth she watched as he walked down the hallway. She could tell something was off and a sudden nagging feeling started to form in the pit of her stomach but she just shook her head, dismissing it and headed to her room. It was probably nothing. She’d been tired all day, not wanting to be in any of her classes, instead counting down the hours till she could flop down on her bed, kick off her shoes and curl up with Rory for a long nap, which is exactly what she did.  
Her dream was like the one the night before. She was standing in the blindingly white room across from Steve and Loki.  
“Belle, you can trust me,” Steve implored, standing a few feet in front of her.  
“You can trust me as well Belle, I would never keep anything from you,” Loki said coolly, further away than Steve was.  
“What are you talking about? Who is keeping something from me? Steve?” She looked at him.  
“He’s just trying to get under your skin Belle, don’t listen to him,” Steve begged.  
“Perhaps the ever patriotic soldier isn’t as honest as you believe him to be Belle,” Loki said coming up to her and gently wrapping a comforting leather clad arm around her shoulders. The feeling in her stomach eased at his touch and she couldn’t look away from Steve, his eyes desperate.  
Loki turned them around and she looked back at Steve. He was reaching out to her but he didn’t seem to be able to move, rooted to the spot by some unknown force. It was like a week ago when Tony had somehow managed to get superglue on the bottom of Steve’s shoes while they ate at the pizza buffet. When they got up to leave Steve had started to rise up and push out his chair, landing on his arse on the floor.  
“What’s wrong Cap? That arthritis bugging you?” Tony joked as Steve rolled his eyes, his face red.  
“Very funny Tony. Did you do this?” Belle asked as she kneeled on the floor inspecting Steve’s shoes.  
Tony couldn’t help but laugh. “It was me,” he held the small bottle in the air, shaking it in his hand.  
Belle rolled her eyes but couldn’t help her small smile as Steve stood, yanking his shoes up only for the rubber soles to remain stuck to the floor.  
Thor’s laughter reverberated throughout the half empty pizza place.  
Steve tossed his shoes into the trash as they left.  
“Don’t worry,” Belle told Steve as they walked down the sidewalk. She intertwined her fingers with his, unaware of Loki’s eyes on their hands. “I’ll help you get back at him.”  
“It’s a deal,” Steve said, smiling as he stopped them, bending down and gently turning her face with his fingers. He pressed a kiss to her lips and felt Belle’s smile against his own. She reached up, stretching on her toes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened their kiss. A tingle ran down the small of her back when he placed his other hand there.  
They broke apart when they heard whistling. The rest of the gang had been behind them. Steve glared at Tony when he threw a stick of gum, still in its wrapper, at his head.

Tony just shrugged. “You might be dating her Steve but Bruce and I, we’ll kick your ass if you hurt her,” he said, his tone only half-teasing.  
Bruce nodded.  
“As will I,” Thor added.  
“Same here,” Clint and Natasha added at the same time.  
Belle wasn’t surprised by Natasha saying that but she was surprised at Clint. They hadn’t spent much time together, none actually, only with the rest of the team or when he was searching for a target for his dart guns around the base. She’d even begun to think he didn’t like her. Suddenly overwhelmed she moved away from Steve and jogged to Clint. She missed her dad and her home terribly and Clint’s words filled her with a warm feeling, making her feel even more welcome, more part of the team, and she threw her arms around him wrapping them around his middle.  
“Hey kid,” he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her. He raised a brow at the soft look Nat was giving him. This kid was definitely getting to everyone and in a good way. In a way some of them felt she kind of glued them together, kept them from bickering as much as they undoubtedly would without her. All of them would undoubtedly come to her aid no matter what and she wouldn’t hesitate to do the same.  
Belle lay in bed, staring at the ceiling; waking up when Loki led her so far away from Steve she could no longer see him. The feeling in her stomach from earlier was back but again she pushed it down and looked at her alarm clock. It was twelve AM and she didn’t have to be up for several hours so she rolled over and was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night.  
That morning she stood facing the sink, slicing an apple for Rory. Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table, eating breakfast and talking loudly. They would all be heading to the training room as soon as they ate. Belle wasn’t paying much attention because of her thoughts. She was just frustrated by everything.  
She couldn’t master the recent moves Natasha had shown her, she’d received her first C on a quiz in Chemistry and her dreams were weighing on her mind, as was that weird feeling in her stomach.  
With all this running through her mind the knife slipped in her hand and she accidentally cut her palm with the knife. “Ow!” she exclaimed, dropping both the apple and the knife on the floor. Everyone turned to look at her.   
“It’s nothing. I just cut my hand a bit.” She held it up, blood starting to drip down her hand and onto the floor. The coppery smell started to fill her nose and she swallowed.  
“Let me see,” Loki said, who had just been rummaging in the fridge for something to eat with a frown at the thought of having to make it for himself. He had a bad tendency for burning just about everything he tried to cook.  
He closed the fridge and walked toward Belle, taking her bleeding hand in his soft one, her blood a stark contrast against his pale skin.   
“Really it’s nothing. It will heal in a little bit anyway,” she said.  
Loki just ignored her and placed his free hand over hers. There was a barely visible golden glow around their hands and when it disappeared he removed his hands. Belle looked at her newly healed palm in astonishment. There wasn’t so much as a scar.  
“How did you do that?” she asked him. “I thought your powers were taken away?”  
“There are a select few things I am still allowed to do.”  
Belle studied him for a moment then quietly thanked him.  
“You are welcome,” Loki said. He took her newly healed hand and kissed her palm softly, his eyes never leaving hers. Suddenly Belle became aware that everyone was watching and she took her hand from Loki’s. She awkwardly picked up the knife and apple. She stared at the apple for a moment, and then threw it away before cleaning the knife. She went to the fridge and grabbed a handful of strawberries, sitting on a stool in the corner she took a bite out of one and handed the rest to Rory. The others burst back into their conversations while Loki observed, sneaking a few glances at Belle.


	16. Losing Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> Neon Jungle-Trouble  
> The Prodigy-Poison  
> MS MR-This Isn’t Control  
> St. Vincent-The Antidote

In the training room Belle was up. She’d been sparring with Natasha for a good half hour when Natasha stepped back.  
“I want you to spar with someone else. Loki,” she commanded as she walked towards where the others were sitting.  
“Of course,” he said, not even arguing as he passed Natasha and walked onto the mat. He was wearing a pair of black workout shorts and a black V-neck work out shirt. Belle couldn’t help but notice how lean and muscled he was. This was the first time Loki had been invited to train with them and he looked, well, normal. As normal as Loki could look that is. His hair was slicked back like always and he grinned as he took his stance in front of her.  
Belle grinned. “I’ll wipe that smirk off your face for you if you like,” she teased.  
“I would like to see you try,” he responded as he began to move to his left on the mat.  
Belle moved her feet to match his, always keeping the same distance as they circled each other. Loki looked like a snake that was going to strike its prey any moment. He moved just as fast, lunging gracefully for her and missing.  
She dodged his advances easily until they got closer and he got his arm around her, bringing her down hard on her back. He maneuvered so Steve, who was watching rather nervously, disappeared from her line of sight behind him and something in her snapped.  
She was reminded of the dream from last night but it felt ten times as real. She felt herself panic. She felt like Loki was pulling her away from Steve and him doing just that in the dream was all she could see.  
She moved, getting ahold of one of Loki’s arms and bending it back, releasing herself from his grip. She had the advantage now and she moved in on him. Instead of trying to get him down on the floor and wait for Natasha to call it she felt the sharp pain in her knuckles as her fists connected with his face over and over.  
She was losing control and her vision began to blur. She couldn’t stop, following after Loki as he moved backwards on the mat using his hands. He was trying to stand up while blocking the steady stream of her blows.  
Suddenly she was yanked off of him and as her chest rose and fell quickly and her vision started to clear she realized there were tears trailing down her cheeks and chin to tickle her neck. She wrenched herself from Thor’s grip and dashed out of the room.  
Tony helped Loki up and Natasha went to inspect the cuts on his face. Loki was bleeding profusely from his nose. The rapid succession of Belle’s hits had managed to fracture it. He wore the same shocked expression as everyone else.  
Bruce looked deeply troubled. The only person he ever feared would lose control out of all of them was himself, never Belle. He ran over every scrap of data about her in his mind. Nothing had come up that would suggest she would lose control like that.  
They all looked to the door as it banged open and a blur zoomed through the room.  
Belle circled the room several times before managing to smack into Thor. She gripped his broad shoulders for dear life, her hands slipping as she and managed to blurt out “I can’t stop!!!” before she was unable to stay still a second longer.  
“What do we do!?” Steve asked, worried as he watched the blur that was his girlfriend zip around the room. “What will happen if she doesn’t stop?” He looked to Bruce, his forehead creased.  
Bruce shook his head. “She’ll exhaust herself, maybe pass out.” He paused. “Or it, whatever it is, could kill her.”  
Steve was even more panicked now.  
They all seemed to get the same idea and formed a line shoulder to shoulder like they were about to play a game of Red Rover, superhero style.  
Belle smacked into Steve and he gripped her tightly around the middle. He could feel her body literally thrumming and vibrating, almost like he was on his bike. He could feel her slipping from his hands and she slipped past him. Next she slammed into Bruce, who after a few seconds lost his balance and fell, Belle zipping away again.  
“What are we supposed to do!?” This time it was Loki, just as frightened for Belle as the others.  
“We can’t stop her,” Tony stated. “We just have to wait till she stops herself, until whatever is happening stops.”  
“And what it if it doesn’t!?” Steve barked, getting in Tony’s face. “What if this kills her!?”  
“Well then I suggest,” Tony started but stopped as Belle halted and after one sway on the spot she collapsed into a ball on the floor.  
The others came to her side immediately. “We have to take her to the infirmary,” Bruce said. “I need to get blood samples and we need to get her hooked up to a heart monitor and fluids. Now.”  
Steve already had her in his arms, ignoring the silent tears that started to slip down his cheeks. He wanted to puke. She felt like a doll in his arms, limp and light as a feather, sickly pale and hot.  
“She’s burning up,” he stated.  
Natasha placed a hand to her forehead. “This is not good. She has to be at 110 Fahrenheit, at least.”  
“Let’s get to the infirmary,” Tony commanded.  
Once there Steve gently placed her down on a sterile bed, smoothing her matted and sweat soaked hair out of her face.  
A doctor and a nurse immediately came up to them and Bruce told them what to do. Once her heart monitor was on they saw how erratic the beat was on the screen it was hooked up to. Fluids were hooked up next along with other various tubes and wires.  
“What do we do about the fever?” Steve asked.  
“Let me,” Loki said, stepping forward. His tone left no room whatsoever for argument.  
Loki stood over Belle, concentrating, his Jotunn form showing itself in just his hand, the skin there turning blue.  
“Loki,” Thor started, worried.  
“It’s quite alright brother. I know what I’m doing.” The room was silent as he placed his blue, ice cold hand against her forehead.  
They all watched as her temperature climbed down.  
“Ease up Loki,” Bruce said. “You don’t want to bring it down too quickly.”  
Loki removed his hand.  
A few minutes later Bruce nodded to Loki and he placed his hand back on her forehead. Belle’s temperature slowly drifted back to normal and with it her breathing and heart rate began to even out. Everyone took small sighs of relief.  
“What the hell happened?” Clint spoke up, perched at the foot of her bed.  
“I’m not sure, but it has to be a side effect of the serum. Something we missed or that waited to show it-self,” Bruce explained. He left soon after getting several blood samples and Tony went with him.  
An hour later the others were still in the infirmary with Belle when Bruce and Tony came back.  
Their faces looked disheartened as they entered.  
“What is it?” Nat asked as she rose from her chair that was on one side of Belle’s bed.  
“It’s some kind of delayed mutation,” Bruce spoke up. “Which is why we didn’t see it before.”  
“Well why has it appeared now?” Steve asked.  
Bruce shook his head. “I have no idea. And I don’t know if it will come back or not.”  
“Come back?” Thor asked.  
“After about an hour we tested the last vial and the mutation was gone. Everything looked just like it did before the mutation.”  
Just as Bruce finished that sentence Belle groaned.  
Steve’s chair was the closest to Belle on the opposite side of the bed across from where Natasha was and he moved closer to her. “Belle?” he whispered.  
Her eyes fluttered and she opened them only to immediately toss her arm over her eyes because of the bright lights.  
“What happened?” she groaned.  
Before anyone could answer she gasped and dropped her arm, eyes searching until they found Loki. “Oh Loki I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to I swear! Look at your face! I’m sorry!” Fresh tears made their presence known. She’d hurt him, one of her friends. The dried blood on his face made her stomach roll. ‘I did that,’ she thought with disdain for herself, unable to continue looking at his face.  
“It’s quite alright Belle,” Loki tried to assuage her.  
“No it’s not. You’re my friend and look what I did to you! It could’ve been any one of you too!”  
“It’s okay Belle,” Steve reassured her. “We’re just worried about you. You collapsed and you were burning up. Loki was able to get you back to normal.”  
“He was?” She looked back at Loki.  
He nodded.  
“I guess I did wipe that smirk off your face after all,” she spoke before closing her eyes. Unable to keep them open she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
